Dawn arranged to have someone deliver veggie sushi for dinner last night. Yum! I do miss “real” sushi, meaning raw fish, but I like my avocado too.

It started out with me reading stories in bed with P at 5:50. We let daddy sleep in and went outside to visit the garden and our favorite tree. After going on a walk, we headed to the Farmer’s Market. I bought SIX (!) types of basil and drank two fresh juices (carrot, apple, lemon and ginger) two plates of veggie sushi, a bite of a cinnamon roll and a chocolate, cherry jam and fresh whipped cream crepe. I am telling you, all of it seriously good. Can someone get me in touch with the young woman who is doing the sushi?

P played long and hard. I lounged on a blanket, visiting or staring at the sky. It was such a pleasure to not get caught up with who or what was going on. We came home and the three of us spent some family time. I made phone calls for help with my knitting and for babysitting. Both calls returned immediately with yeses.

Will and I had a lovely dinner and a movie. We walked to the car holding hands.

Nothing special. I felt normal. Ahh to feel normal. Ahh to feel at total ease with my “normal” day.

I love the Farmer’s Market here in town. It’s great to show up at the park and see all your neighbors and friends and eat crepes. And now someone has fresh juice and veggie sushi. The cool thing about her booth (in addition to the tasty sushi and juice) is she provides plastic cups and plates to be re-used.

Now if only that one woman would stop smoking near the play ground.

Get there early before it’s all gone.

I received this video from the Seeds Of Change yahoo group.  This short clip is about a family which uses all of its normal size yard to grow 300 different types of organic foods as well as raise animals!

I was eating a bag of chips today (like most days) and as I read the label on the front of the bag that says, “No Genetically Engineered Ingredients”. I thought to myself, why do foods with no GMOs have labels, but foods with GMOs do not?

The practice of labeling foods that have no GMOs is what’s wrong with this country. If you can change that, you fix the country.

I’ll be honest, Dawn does most of the grocery shopping. I used to know how much a pack of butter should cost, but not anymore.

Yesterday I made my first trip to the grocery store in like 2 months, and on the list was butter. I nearly screamed out in the dairy aisle at Everybody’s when I saw the price. $7.59 for four sticks of Horizon organic butter!

So I have to ask, what does a pack of organic butter cost in your local grocery store?

My spring fever reached a frenzied pitch this weekend.

Last year we used a neighbor’s unused garden plot. This year we are converting some of our backyard into a garden. I can’t wait for spring! I know you are all with me on this point. Out and about and on-line everyone is talking about the end of winter.

I subscribe to the Seeds of Change Yahoo group. The threads over there are currently buzzing with everyone’s preparation plans. One is titled, “The time is right to turn lawns into farmland.” I’m now convinced that not only do I need to turn my lawn into a garden but that I also need chickens. The first thing on my to-do list for Monday is to check into the Fairfield zoning laws.

The movement to convert lawns to farmland is awesome. And sites like, Cascadia Food Not Lawns make a very compelling argument for it. Here are a few points:

58 million Americans spend approximately $30 billion every year to maintain over 23 million acres of lawn.

Lawns use ten times as many chemicals per acre as industrial farmland.

The pollution emitted from a power mower in just one hour is equal to the amount from a car being driven 350 miles.

Lawns use more equipment, labor, fuel, and agricultural toxins than industrial farming, making lawns the largest agricultural sector in the United States.

I’m ready for a seed swap.

I want my food organic and local. Who doesn’t? We have some great local food here, especially Radiance Dairy. I wish we had everything local. I even wrote up a dairy wish list for 2008. How silly is that?

While enjoying Will’s famous enchiladas with friends this past weekend, part of my wish list came true. I learned that another local farm is filling the void. Farmers’ All Natural Creamery in Kalona Iowa makes a variety of cheeses, milk, and butter. We have been getting our Kalona butter and eggs from Everybody’s (the local organic foods store). But they do not carry Kalona cheese. The only cheddar and mozzarella cheese options are not local.

Well, HyVee carries all of the Kalona products. The trick is most of them are hidden under HyVee’s own organic brand, Health Market. If you look close in the organic dairy section at HyVee, past the green and red logo, you’ll find a local haven.

Yahoo.

I was wondering where Richard Kind is staying while preforming at the Sondheim Center. Then I wondered where do any of the high profile people stay when they come into town?

We have 8 options here in our small town. There are 4 McHotels, 1 historic hotel downtown, 1 bed and breakfast, 1 unique out of the way place and one unique out of the way spa.

We have had business associates stay, or attempt to stay, at all of them except the newer Seven Roses B&B. The 4 McHotels are reported to be what you would expect. Clearly the worst being the Best Western and if a best had to be chosen, perhaps the Heartland. The Landmark, our historic downtown hotel, they wanted to stay, but after going into the room they left. I guess the musty smell overwhelmed them. The Raj was described as staying in your grandmother’s living room.

The Rukmapura Park was by far their favorite. It is the only place I have stayed in Fairfield. It was quite nice. I however, did feel like I was staying in the most deserted place on earth. The only thing in sight are a few temple-headed houses. Strangely, there are always cars parked in front of the hotel but you see NO ONE. No one at the desk, no one coming in or out of their east entrances, and even the buffet food just magically appears. Thank goodness I stayed there in the summer because if it had been the winter I would of freaked out.

The Rukmapura Park breakfast buffet was the best hotel breakfast buffet I have had. It was things like cereals, juices and toast but all organic and a great variety. I think about all those hotel breakfast buffets across America; gallons of gooey scrambled eggs and gazillions of stale donuts and as my nieces’ say, “that’s disgusting!”

At The Rukmapura Park I slept like a baby. This is saying a lot considering the above and my sleep troubles at the time. Maybe there is something to the directions and light.

What is up with the Raj? When I moved here I imagined I’d go to the Raj for a “spa treatment” now and then and eat some fabulous food. But I’ve never made it out there for the food and I was told that the kind of “spa treatment” they do is not necessarily a treat, if you know what I mean. But geesh, the website makes it look totally swanky.

I’ll go stay at the Raj and get a treatment! All in the name of the blog. ;-) I’d also like to have breakfast at the Seven Roses. I read a rave review on line that mentioned granola. I LOVE good granola. I guess they sale it. I’ll have to check that out too.

My husband will be the first to tell you one of the best things we have around here is organic meat. We get ours from Dave and Rita Smith. They are located in Bonaparte and deliver right to your door. We have a hand written price list and one of the options is Rita’s special pork sausage. I don’t eat much meat, but when I do I want it fresh and organic. The Smith’s provide this at a very reasonable price. My favorite is the whole chickens.

While out to dinner with friends last weekend, someone mentioned that Smith Farm was converting to a dairy farm to be part of the Organic Valley “family”. While I couldn’t confirm the Organic Valley story, Rita Smith emailed and said they are in the process of changing to a dairy farm. They will continue to have chickens but the other animals they are not sure about.

This just may be the push my hubby needs to cut down on the red meat. And I’d love another local diary. We get our milk, yogurt and some cheese from Radiance Dairy. Which is amazing. I would however, like milk in a glass container. And add to the list, sour cream, cheddar cheese and butter (although we do get our butter from Kalona Iowa). I’d also like the Smiths to be able to be independent of the organic giant, “Organic Valley”.

So there is my dairy wish list for 2008.

If you want to get meat from Smith Farm you can email them at smitfarm@netins.net or call at 319-592-3266.