I didn't take these pictures. But aren't they beautiful? Most were found on this incredible blog. I'm looking forward to a white kitchen where we can display our canned vegetables like works of art. Getting excited for houseplants like ferns and succulents. Also, waiting to see if the 36 eggs we're about to incubate really hatch. Our new landlord tells us to keep them at about 60 degrees and flip each egg upside down morning and night until we bring them to his incubator. We have one Buff Orpington and the rest are Rhode Island Reds. Our rooster is a beautiful Blue Copper Maran. Do you know whether the mother or father determines the variety of chicken? Or do they make a mix?

moments from last weekend

Anyone know if those are real Morels? I'm still paranoid about wild mushrooms.

yesterday's discoveries

That's right, what you see is a LOCAL orange. For anybody unfamiliar with the climate of Maryland, that is completely unheard of. There are two trees inside the greenhouse. Neither has been watered in years and years, but both are alive and bearing fruit! (Dry fruit, but that's to be expected in such conditions...) We also discovered why the airplane hanger smells so bad. There's a nest of vultures inside. They live next to the sewing machine. It was a little intimidating being next to such a huge bird. They reminded me of dinosaurs. But lots of animals remind me of dinosaurs. 

All I can say is that our new house is like some Venture Brothers meets James Bond meets Austin powers meets Ken Kesey compound. Yes. It's that incredible. We are so excited to bring it back to life.

ps. That's a paper blue willow plate. Aunt Diana, if you read this, I took that picture for you.

localize it

Last weekend we went to Localize It, a street festival hosted by the Baltimore Free Farm, Baltimore Green Currency Association, and Baltibrew. It was launch-day for the currency we helped spearhead (even though winter got the best of us and our meeting-attendance severely dropped in frequency). I'm so proud of our friends. The city is really taking to local money well. Even the mayor is enthusiastic! (Plus, do you see those bumblebees on the dollars? I drew them!!!)

Our friend Ian is a masterful beer brewer and chili-maker. He makes beer that tastes like girl scout cookies, chamomile, apple, and even vintage tequilia! He'll be brewing some special beers for our wedding.

We also managed to score some pretty delicious pita, hummus, and kabobs. They were grilled right there on the street by a bunch of death-metal-farmers who went out of their way to use local lamb. (Jamie coined that nickname... it's highly accurate.) It's so nice to see all sorts of people getting excited about local food, money, farms, guerrilla gardening, beehives...

quick and simple whole wheat muffins

Apparently, every spring I get a craving for muffins. These past few days I've been sifting though old photos and deleting doubles and not so good ones. While doing so, I discovered last year's muffins. Mmmm... delicious. They were also whole wheat but I put ginger inside. This year, I discovered the easiest recipe. It's the sort you add things to, whether it's apples, bananas, walnuts, cinnamon. Put anything in these muffins and they come out heavenly.

3 cups whole wheat flour

1/3 cup raw sugar

1 tsp sea salt

4.5 tsp baking powder

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/3 cups milk

1/3 cup melted butter

mix the wet and dry separately, then combine
bake at 375 F for 20 minutes, or until done