Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Monday, August 23, 2010

Santa Cruz to Sausalito to San Francisco

Stephen just left after his annual visit. His visits often mean new adventures, and this year we decided on a zip-line adventure to go with the usual assortment hikes and restaurant sampling.

Last weekend, we drove up to Sausalito and toured the seaside village by way of the "Sausalito Secret Stairs" - a series of steep, underused staircases that lead to a beautiful hill overlooking the Bay. Climbing the stairs was an adventure in itself -- it's been 8 months now since we moved out of San Francisco so the coastal hills were quite a challenge -- but the view made it all worthwhile.

This most recent weekend, Steve, Ally and Sascha joined us for a walk along the Bay to Chrissy Field and to check out the Wave Organ, an environmental art sculpture comprised of listening tubes that stick out of the water like periscopes. It's like a giant man-made symphonic sea shell. We heard subtle sounds of drums, cymbals and flowing water rumbling up the pipes as little waves slapped against the sculpture.


The view from Chrissy Field


Pearl listens to the music of the Bay

The highlight of the week was the redwood canopy tour, an amazing ziplines and rope bridge course just outside of Santa Cruz, where we flew through redwood trees at up to 150 feet up from the ground. The longest zip-line we zipped through was 450 feet long, and we got great rushes when cannon-balling through it (we were told that one can move up to 35 miles per hour!). Check out the video of Pearl coming in to land after the final zipline.

Pearl on her practice run at the zipline course

A rope bridge between two redwoods, 140 feet above ground level


Pearl completes the course


Pearl and Stephen, back at ground level

Garden Update: In addition to the lettuce and basil which we've continued to harvest, we've started picking the kale (for kale chips), cilantro (for guacamole), and radish (for salads). The beans have started climbing the ladder Sascha and Chris built. The tomatoes and peppers have started to ripen on the vine and change color.


A close-up of the beans climbing the ladder


The tomatoes are almost ripe


Our first homegrown radish

This past weekend we planted the blueberry bushes and hope to get another round of planting in before Labor Day. September will be busy, starting with a trip east to visit family, two baseball games, another fruits-of-the-forest hike with Feral Kevin, a visit from Pia, an exploratory trip to the tattoo studio, a housemate search, Pearl's return to school, and lots and lots of planting, gardening and harvesting. Phew.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

The Garden - Part 2

We've been hard at work in the garden all summer long, and we're already seeing so many wonderful changes ~ it's amazing how much happens in the span of a month.

We've been growing vegetables from both seeds and starters; the seeds are starting to sprout and the starters are beginning to fruit. Last weekend, we harvested some basil leaves for a roasted tomato dish that we served for a dinner party, and in the coming weeks, we should have the makings for a salad!

We just finished putting together two more raised beds and are on the hunt for some organic blueberry bushes. The blueberry season is over for this year but we hope to have three large (fruiting) bushes by next summer.

Here are our plans and some photos of our growing garden.


lettuce, cucumbers, celery, carrots, radish


Salad? Gazpacho? Salsa?


View of the beans, kale, chard, cabbage garlic as seen through the bean ladder Sascha made


Close up of the chard


In the herb bed: lavender, rosemary, oregano, dill, chives, parsley, cilantro, garlic, shallots


View of the brick border around the herb bed


The mint, bell peppers and habaneros are all being grown in separate pots outside the beds


Close up of the mint


The broccoli was started indoors in a planter and will be transferred to the third bed in a few weeks


The layout of the three vegetable beds


The layout of the herb bed

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Garden Update

Thanks to Lily, Sascha, Stuart, and Lauren's help these last few weeks, we've gotten a great start on making the garden of our dreams come true. Soon, we hope to be making dinners with the fruits of our labor. If anybody is interested in getting dirty or trying their hands at gardening, there is still a lot to do and we welcome all helpers! Just email us and come on over!

Some photos of our starters and seedlings


View of cucumbers, lettuce, celery, summer squash, butternut squash, and garden peach variety tomatoes (not in view, carrots and radish seedlings).


View of green beans, kale, chard, and savoy cabbage (not in view, garlic and onions)


View of oregano, basil and parsley (still to come, coriander and rosemary)

Sunday, July 04, 2010

New photos of our home

We've been spending most of our free time setting up house, both indoors and out. With the help of Lily and Sascha this weekend, we finished construction of our raised beds and teepee stalks, prepared our herb garden, and planted our cacti. Finally, our house is turning into a home.

By request, here are some photos of our progress:


Our puzzle, music, and dining area


Where we wake up to yoga and meditation in the mornings and work/study in the evenings


Where we spend most of our time, cooking up the yummiest of mostly-vegan meals


Our bedroom altar faces the east




Before and After of the Front Yard - Lily and Pearl weeded the front and planted cacti this weekend ~ what a difference!


Chris put together these redwood planks (courtesy of Barry) and they are ready for veggies. Amazing work, eh?


Sascha dug up about a foot of old soil and Chris bricked the sides. In the next few days, we will compost the roses and add top soil and herbs.

It's been a busy weekend, and we are exhausted but seeing the progress we've made so far has us really excited. There is still a long way to go before we start harvesting but we'll send updates as the sprouts start to shoot up.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

Summertime

It's the middle of June, and we're finally settling into our new home in Berkeley, just two blocks from where we've been subletting for the last six months. We're planning on staying put until Pearl graduates from school in a few years time; we have been doing way too much moving recently and and are ready to settle down, at least for the moment.




Our new home

We lucked out and found a newly renovated two-bedroom house with an open backyard that is perfect for a raised bed vegetable garden. This weekend, we started digging the beds for wildflowers and native plants in the front and started construction on the raised beds for the back. Soon we hope to have cucumbers, tomatoes, peas, peppers, broccoli, beets, squash, spinach and herbs.


Our back yard (the before pic)










Flowers from the yard

We've grown to love Berkeley-living so much more than we anticipated. We find that we don't cross the bridge into San Francisco as much as we thought we would; instead, we find ourselves exploring Berkeley, Oakland, and the East Bay. Last month, we went on a hike in Las Trampas Regional Wilderness in San Ramon with our friends Stu & Mags where we picnicked atop a large rock outcrop while watching a kaleidoscope of wildflowers blowing in the wind.


P&C at Las Trampas (courtesy of M. Chuang)

We also hiked with Sascha up in Marin to join the German Maifest celebration near Muir Woods where we were entertained by the Tourist Club SF in their traditional Bavarian outfits, dancing around a Maypole dance. Traditionally the maypole dance was an opportunity for young unmarried lads and lasses of the village to meet and pair up. The dancers at the Maifest were there to entertain rather than pitch woo, and were not so young, ranging from early twenties to, perhaps, late seventies, but all seemed to be having a grand time all the same. It was cute watching everyone get into the spirit of May!


Dancing around the pole at Maifest

Last weekend, Sascha graduated from American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine for his Masters in Acupuncture, and we attended the event with his father, Mickey, who flew in from Germany, and his uncle, Kirk, who flew in from Kentucky.


P&S&C at the graduation (courtesy of K. Schmidt)

For the coming months, our plans mainly include getting as much sun as possible in our backyard while we plant our garden, bbq and read on our new lawn chaises. We'll be visiting family in Boston in mid-July, and Pearl will be attending the Dickens Universe in Santa Cruz in the beginning of August.

If you find yourself in the Bay area or seeking a getaway weekend out West, come and relax in the sun with us! We always love guests :).

Saturday, April 10, 2010

Spring Break!

The lion of March arrived more than a little soggy following two straight months of rain, and the lamb seems to be heading out nearly as wet, but in between we had four lovely weeks of California sun where we packed in a ton of activities.

Our first March adventure was an outdoor class, or walkabout, where we learned to identify edible plants that grow in the wild: acorns (for flour), Miner's Lettuce, Thistle leaves, Stinging Nettles, Yerba Buena. Because the class took place in a public park, we were unable to pick the plants we saw on the hike; but soon after, we went on a walkabout of our own on which we used our new-found wilderness knowledge to discover these savory delights. And better still, on that second hike, we found some chantrelle mushrooms which we incorporated into our meal that evening.


The fruits (and fungi) of our wild plant and mushroom forage

As Pearl's semester came to a close, Pia arrived once again and we all headed directly to the Tattoo Expo at the Cow Palace. Amidst the bikers and tattoo aficionados, we looked as out of place at the expo as we did hiking the Grand Canyon in our argyle sweaters and designer shades but we mingled and talked to a few artists and eventually found the artist we want to work on us. She is located in Fresno so one of our next Pia reunions will have to take place down there. To see some of her work, click here: http://towertattoos.com/site/?page_id=12

The following day, we took Pia to visit our Community Supported Agriculture Farm in Dixon, CA for a tour and afternoon tea. We spent that day walking around the farm, seeing where our weekly box of veggies comes from and enjoying the newly hatched chicks.


Grape vines at Eatwell

The atmosphere couldn’t have been any different from the previous day's events. Here, we were surrounded by farmers and lovers of the earth, having gathered together to enjoy the sun and hear the farmer, Nigel, discuss his plans for the farm, which include building his new home: an "earth house" which will eventually be covered in soil and grass.


The frame of the Earth House

The house is designed to last for 900 years, and to withstand nuclear explosions, earthquakes, hurricanes and tornadoes. It's really amazing, and he's building it all himself, with the help of members and friends. Here is a video of the house that they posted a few weeks ago; when we saw it last week, some of the walls had already come up. http://www.youtube.com/user/eatwellfarmcsa


Pearl, Lily and Pia climb the house

After a full day in the sun, we came home and started a 1000-piece puzzle, the first of four puzzles we completed in the week that Pia was here.

For the remainder of Pia’s visit, we participated in activities to help us heal and relax: Pearl led morning yoga classes where we all learned to further control our breath, find our centers, and stretch our bodies.

Pia and Pearl took a capoeira class a block from our house where they attempted cartwheels, backbends and sweeping movements with their feet. While they certainly weren’t as graceful as the teacher or older students, everyone in the studio made them feel welcome; they even joined the roda (pronounced “hoddah”), where the professora and students took turns playing musical instruments (such as the Berimbau), singing and ritually sparring in pairs in the center of the circle. The girls were a bit embarrassed to “play” with the far more experienced students whose moves included acrobatic play, feints, takedowns, leg sweeps, kicks and headbutts. Still it was an amazing experience due to the studio’s warm welcome.

Pearl also took Pia to Wing Chun class where she got to show off the moves she’s been learning in the last two months. Pia learned to aggressively defend herself eastern style, all the while enjoying the warm welcome that Pearl’s studio showed her.

To help their bodies recover from capoeira and Wing Chun, Pia and Pearl painted a ceramic salad bowl and plates at Brushstrokes (http://www.brushstrokestudio.com/), another fun activity in our neighborhood.


Our new salad bowl and plates

Towards the end of the week, Chris took a few days off work and we spent three days waking to yoga and meditation, cooking and enjoying amazing vegan food (the Guatemalan enchiladas and the Mauritian dinner were highlights), putting together puzzles, hiking, and showing off our moves with our brand new hula hoops. On Pia's last day in town, we hiked up to--and through--the Berkeley Botanical Gardens and back, a 9-mile hike in total.


The Redwood Forest at the Berkeley Botanical Gardens

I think it's fair to say that when she boarded the plane for the red-eye that evening, Pia probably slept pretty well after a long, active, and fun week. And we can't wait for her to return so we can do more Berkeley/California exploration.

Sunday, February 07, 2010

...And Five Months Later...

My, how the time does pass. The last five months have brought us experiences and friends, both new and familiar. It's been a wild and wonderful ride and before too much time passes, we thought we would pause a moment to collect ourselves.

In October, we finally made it to the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, a three day music festival held every year in Golden Gate Park where bluegrass, country and folk artists come to entertain huge crowds of people from the Bay Area with their banjos and guitars. It was Lily's birthday and we spent a lovely afternoon with her, lying in the grass, soaking in the sun, and listening to the music.

As the year came to a close, we packed up our belonging, said a farewell (for now) to San Francisco and drove over the Bay Bridge to our new home in West Berkeley.



Though moving was a stressful experience, we offset this by taking a few days off with Pia to relax in a seaside cabin in Mendocino.



Because it was raining most of the time we were there, we spent many hours indoors, doing yoga and meditating or watching the waves crash against the rocks below. We did get a few hikes in, and the coastline area all along the North Coast is beautiful.



Our favorite was Glass Beach, a former town dump now home to a muted rainbow of sea glass.



Dustin, Courtney and Amine were in town for December/January so we were able to spend New Years Eve with them, and with Sascha, at our new home in Berkeley. The house we are renting is loaded with musical instruments including a harmonium, a sitar, numerous drums and guitars, and various other instruments of every shape and size, so we welcomed the new year with good food, great friends, and a lot of mediocre music.



Soon after, we left for Connecticut and Massachusetts to visit family. Candice just had a new baby boy, and we checked out the new family home being built by Christopher's parents. It was wonderful to be surrounded by our family once more.

Since our trip home, we have begun settling in quite nicely at our new life in Berkeley. We added a few new acomplishments to our skillset: Christopher just finished a two-day workshop and got certified in First Aid, and Pearl started Wing Chun classes a few blocks from our house and is learning self-defense. At present, we are helping Sascha put together his website for his healing practice.



The next few months will remain busy as always, but we are hopeful that we can include some hikes, music practice, and writing amidst the craziness. We’ll keep you posted of any adventures along the way!