Boulder Belt to go High Speed

after 19 years of accessing the internet via dial up modem I have finally decided to go with DSL. At some point around 7pm this evening my service will kick in and I will be able to surf the web comfortably. No more waiting up to 10 minutes for a page to load (I have literally vacuumed the living room floor in less time than it has taken for some things to load . No more hour+ hangs on the email because someone has sent me a 5mb attachment (that won't open too often) I can now watch suggested videos without the up to 20 hour download time (and the vast majority of these I delete). The photos on my website will now load all the way with no refreshing. I will be able to upload videos to this blog.

I am stoked about this upgrade in my life.

The Word is Locavore

Each year the New Oxford American Dictionary chooses a word of the
year. This year, the word is Locavore.

http://blog.oup.com/2007/11/locavore/

Ain't it great that there is not only a term for the likes of us local foodies but it is the word of the year for 2007!

After eating local and working hard on recreating local food sheds for the past 15 year it is nice to be so appreciated with not only our own word, but the best of all the words this year.

Women Who Farm

Women Who Farm.

This is a forum I found because I was reading Shari's Blog, Shari's Gone Country, and there was a link to this forum. Since I love Internet forums, especially ones about small farming/organics/local foods I clicked on over and saw there were many women farmers I already knew from email lists and gardening forums in which I participate. So I registered and have become a part of this growing community of women who farm (or want to farm). If that is you check out the site.

New URL; Update your Bookmarks and links!

After two years of having the wrong spelling in the URL for this blog I finally corrected that spelling from "boulerbelt" to "boulderbelt" (note the addition of the letter "D"). If you have this blog linked to your blog or website please update the URL. Time to update bookmarks too.

Having changed the URL (which I cannot undo as a spam site has taken over my old URL-that took under 24 hours) may have been a bone head move in the short run as a lot of people cannot find this blog via their links and bookmarks but in the long run it should be a brilliant move as now this blog will show up in search engines when "Boulder belt" is typed into the search box.

It has been fun trying to remember where I put up the URL to this site and changing them all (over 20 links so far and I am sure there are others), especially in light of the fact I am using a brand new computer that I have not been able to transfer anything from my old computer (because it died 36 hours before I got the wonderful and beautiful new iMac) to so I do not have many of my old bookmarks and only 10% of my email list

Lucy Gets a New Mac

I bought a new iMac today, actually I ordered it today and it should be here next late week.

It will be a big improvement over the failing iMac I currently own. Among other things, it will have a keyboard that will have working "T" and #5 keys. It will also have a lot more memory, be faster and an up to date OS (for a few months anyway).

I'm psyched

This will be Mac #4 for me.

Boulder Belt is in Ohio Dammit

I was googling myself, really Boulder Belt Eco-Farm, and found BBEF is listed on a Boulder Colorado site as a local farm. They had a link to my Local Harvest store but not this blog or my farm website. This explains why, in the past several months, I have gotten the occasional call from Boulder, CO wanting local food or, in one case, a guy wanting to sell me plastic to package chickens in.

In the past, many people have assumed Eugene and I are from Boulder because of our farm's name, we are not. Neither of us has even visited the state of Colorado. I do not know why it is so difficult for some people to realize that Boulder, CO does not have a monopoly on boulders, that they do exist right here in SW Ohio. On our farm even, hence the name Boulder Belt, named for the Bloomington Boulder Belt that cuts a NW to SE swath through Preble county.

Boulder Belt is in Ohio, Dammit!

Reality (NOT) Shows

Things I get sent via email. Today it's a casting call

The CW network (formerly called The WB & UPN) seeks REAL FARMER / RANCHER to STAR in network romantic reality show


Ideally our Farmer/Rancher will have REAL farming or Ranching experience such as working a farm/ranch, been in the rodeo circuit or even an heir to a ranch/farm empire.
The guy needs to be:
SINGLE
AGE 23-30
Confident both in real life and in his environment.
Must be in decent shape, have a good-ole-boy attitude and able to charm the ladies.

If you or someone you know fits this description, the CW Network wants to hear from you.

Please email us immediately with the following information:
Name
Age
Contact information: email, phone numbers
How they fit description: rancher/farmer/cowboy
What experience they have on the ranch/farm
PHOTOS: 5-10 showing: face, body, at least one with the shirt off, anything showing them on the ranch/farm.

Now I am neither Male, unmarried or under 30 so the CW has 3 strikes with me. Another vehicle to further exploit Farmers. Though I am sure it will pay the farmer they use well by small town standards but merely a pittance by Hollywood standards.

How to Eat A Chocolate Jesus

There was a story in the news about a man who created a chocolate Jesus for Holy Week. This act pissed off a bunch of Christians and the chocolate Jesus has been banned.

Banned or not, the fact that a chocolate Jesus has been created begs the question just how does one go about eating a chocolate Jesus?

I asked my friends via email about this and here are the best of the replies

Erika D sez:

Hey Lucy -
I always had the same problem with chocolate bunnies. I could never eat their heads, so eventually my mom just hid a big chocolate egg instead & little toy bunnies sometimes. But you know, I have never had that problem with marshmallow peeps - chicks OR bunnies. Less realistic, I suppose.
x, E.

P.S. I think one should probably not bite Jesus. Just lick him all over until he's just a slimy lump of chocolate and maybe then biting him would be OK.

John W sez:

There are a number of ways to approach chocolate
Jesii, my child.

Apply the chocolate bunny principal and start with the
ears.

Is this particular jesus on a cross?  In that case the
order shall be left arm, body, head, then enshrine the
right arm.

Treat him like a real fancy candle such as little girl
with a watering can.  You would no more think of
burning down this little wax girl than you would
eating jesus.  Put him on your knick knack shelf until 
the rapture.

Melinda M sez:

Since this is the holy season of Lent, I believe the correct order would be:

The feet first, to symbolize the cleansing of the feet at passover.

Then gnaw on the back and head, to represent the crown of thorns and the scourging (re: The Passion)

Then on Friday, chomp off the head and bury the rest under a rock until Sunday.

Resurrect the torso and munch down, to represent the ascent into heaven. Extra bonus if the dog pees on the buried chocolate, to represent the descent into hell for a while, although this theology is not as commonly


So how would you eat a chocolate Jesus?
mentioned anymore.

And that's how you eat a chocolate Jesus!

What's Your Aura Color?

Your Aura is Violet

Idealistic and thoughtful, you have the mind and ideas to change the world. And you have the charisma of a great leader, even if you don't always use it! The purpose of your life: saying truths that other people dare not say Famous purples include: Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., Susan B. Anthony Careers for you to try: Political Activist, Inventor, Life Coach

What Color Is Your Aura?

Contest:Win a GC!

Farm & Garden has a contest running right now. The prize is a $75 gc to High Mowing Seeds.

http://www.farm-garden.com/gregg/what_does...nic_mean_to_you

Lucy & Eugene get a DVD Player (finally)

I got package full of interesting DVD's from my brother for the Christmas/solstice season, 5 in all.

But we did not have a DVD player with which to view them so we went to Richmond and got a Coby™ DVD player from REX for under $31 (including tax).

Long time readers of this blog may remember that in November 2005 we had a visit from my brother Scott and during that visit, among other things, we bought a DVD player from the local Wal-Mart box store. It turned out to be a very evil DVD player (See My weekend... & Purging the Evil for the story about the last DVD player and all the ensued) so it was returned (partly because the TV we had at the time was too old for DVD players, partly because the damned thing seemed to be cursed).

now that we have a much newer TV we can now use DVD player technology and we had been discussing buying a DVD player for a couple of months (since we got Fran's TV). When we got the package of DVD's in the mail we figured it was a sign to go out and purchase one.

And so we did.

We decided to buy at REX because it is a local company (based out of Dayton, OH) and also because it had cheap players whereas Wal-Mart had them for about $90 and HH Gregg was not much cheaper. All we wanted was the most basic unit we could find and REX had that unit. It was so basic we opted to pay five bucks more for one with an LED display. The sales guy answered all our questions but warned us that this unit played on DVD-/RW disks and DVD+/RW disks. But he also assured us that the DVD+/RW disks are almost never used.

So we drove home happy with our new purchase.

We get home and I find the DVD's my brother sent and damn it to hell, all but one was a DVD+/RW. So without reading the specs on the DVD player box we start planning the return of yet another DVD player. At least this time no pets were dead on the road or furnishings stuck where they ought not to be. but before we get too far in our return the DVD player plans I wander over to the box and read the specs and find out the unit will play DVD+/RW disks-Yay!

While I cook dinner, Eugene hooks up the player to the TV set and by 8pm we are watching one of the DVD my brother sent. we put in man on the Moon, about Andy Kauffman. We get the menu screen with sound and color and everything so we know we have the thing hooked up correctly. press play and get the movie itself but no sound. I figure out how to get English subtitles so for a while we can read along. but it ain't the same as listening. So we try this is Spinal Tap and with that we get a strange voice over of the band in recent years describing the "documentary", strange. I am curious to see what other surprises await us with the DVD's. Still have Heathers, the History of Violence (which I have not seen) and American Splendor (another one I have not seen and I hope is watchable because I have wanted to see this since it came oout about 18/24 months ago. It's about a guy named Harvey Pekar and I have a friend named Pekar but I do not believe they are any relation).

That is our most recent adventure involving electronics.

Solistice

On the last day of autumn I saw a family of bluebirds cavorting about some hoophouse supports and a ringed necked pheasant that for some reason was hanging out in the south lawn by the chain linked fence. Upon seeing Us humans and the dogs, it flew over to the tall grass and weeds and disappeared from sight. I did not realise they are as big as a chicken and sound a lot like one too

Happy Solstice Everyone
May the Gods and Goddesses grant you a swell new year.

Question

Question: Which father pays for a lesbian wedding?

Geminid Fun

Got up at 3:30 am to watch the Geminids at their peak and I must say it was worth getting out of bed in the middle of the night.

Got up dressed in the dark, got downstairs and turned on a light to make coffee. Eugene got up a few minutes later and stumbled down the stairs. We got coats on and went out to see what we could see. After turning on lights it was not much for a couple of minutes. But soon enough our eyes adjusted and we started seeing shooters. I'd say the rate between 4 and 5:15am was around 100 an hour. We lost count at 25 and I'd say we ended up between the two of us seeing at least 100.

They were not the fireballs I had hope to see but did see a couple of dim twin shooters (both times coming out of Gemini, funny how that works). It was certainly no meteor storm (we got one of those about 4 years ago and it was amazing) but it was a great meteor shower.

Now I feel like I haven't had any sleep. Looks like there will be napping to be done this afternoon, if not before. I don't think there is enough coffee in the world to prevent a nap today

Sudoku Hell

I subscribe to the Dayton Daily News and everyday I try to do the sudoku puzzle and everyday I find fatal errors about halfway in. Once a few weeks ago I did successfully solve a moderately hard one.

Everyday I tell myself I will not do another sudoku and every evening I find myself on the couch with pen in hand trying to solve the sucker

Perhaps I should start doing the puzzle in pencil and not pen

A Cat Story

Took the cats to the vet this past Monday. We have two cats, Navin and Trina. Navin has been with me for going on 14 years and Trina came into our lives last August right around the time Hurricane KaTrina was making headlines.

Anyhoo Monday afternoon we made sure not to let the cats outside before the appointment, got the trusty cat carriers out of the barn and and loaded Trina and Navin into the crates. The cats immediately made it known they were not at all pleased about this turn of events. Hiss and yowling started and continued all through the 20 minute ride to the vet's. About 3 miles outside of Richmond we smelled what could have been someone's septic system needing a good pumping. We hoped that was what it was but no, the odor lingered all the way into Richmond. When we parked in the Vet office parking lot we discovered the source of the stink. Trina had showed her extreme displeasure over being shoved in a crate and than loaded onto a van and driven to God knows where by leaving a rather large turd in her crate.

We took her on in and figured, okay got a stool sample. The vet's assistant removed the pile for us and ultimately it was not needed.

Soon both cats were well prodded and had received the shots they needed. The vet noticed and inflamed front tooth in Trina's mouth and tried to pull it but it did not want to come out (ouch!). She will have to be watched and taken back in if it gets more inflamed.

With the vet visit done we put the cats back in the crates and got back into the van and drove to wal-Mart to return a battery. I do not like giving my money to Wal-Mart and do so to as small a degree as possible but they have by far the cheapest price on the lithium battery I need for my digital camera. Actually, other than Office Max they are the only place around that carries this kind of battery as far as I know.

The cats were a lot quieter on the drive back home, almost to the point where I was wondering if they were still alive (they were). We get home and I open the crate doors up before removing them from the van and both cats jump out. I was wondering just how pissed off Trina would be with us over all the indignities we had just bestowed upon her and found out as soon as I lifted her crate out of the van. It was covered in urine.

I wash out the crate with the hose and let the cats into the house and all is well until dark. Navin, Trooper than he is has already forgiven us for the vet visit. Trina is on her bed washing the pee from her paws but not wanting any human attention. I am not surprised, she did not take the trip well at all. Around 9pm she asks me to let her out and so I did and that was the last we saw of her for about 36 hours. This worried Eugene to no end. He was getting quit convinced by this morning that she was dead. And i was not so sure this wasn't true though I was not going to throw in the towel until she was gone a full 72 hours
I figured she was majorly pissed at us and was hiding in the barn, likely watching us the whole time. That, or trying to catch mice-she did catch her first mouse ever last Monday. Ate the head off of it too.

But about 10 minutes after Eugene said he was sure she was gone Trina comes walking back all coy yet happy to see us. After a 20 minute petting session she retired to the visco elastic tempur-pedic single bed we inherited.

Figures, that's cats for you.

25th High School Reunion CANCELED

My 25th high school reunion (Talawanda High School, Oxford, OH; Class of 1981) was supposed to be held this week end but was canceled due to lack of interest (really!).

The reunion had originally been scheduled in October but was rescheduled to Thanksgiving weekend because of a THS football conflict (yeah, a high school game will certainly be more of a conflict than Thanksgiving). It seems THS was having its' Homecoming game and the planners of the Class of 1981 Reunion figured that that game would be far more important to those of us who have been out of High School for 25 years than Thanksgiving with friends and family. I really have no understanding as to what they were thinking and apparently I am not alone here.

I got a invitation to this reunion in the mail about a month ago and noted that they wanted $50 a person to eat at Dipaolo's which I consider an over priced 2nd rate restaurant ever since the DiPaolo family sold the shop and it moved into the incredibly overpriced Elms Hotel. But I digress, this is not about my relationship with the DiPaolo Family and their former restaurant, where I worked for for 2.5 years and learned boatloads about cooking and food and that experience eventually launched me into market farming. No this is about my 25th High School reunion that was canceled due to lack of interest, likely lots of time conflicts and let us not forget that the folks who planned this whole thing (these were not my favorite people in HS, nor McGuffey Lab School where I spent K thru 8th grade. I see they are still into having power and making less than great decisions) made it so many folks could not afford to go at $50 a person. I am assuming my classmates that planned this party have seen way too many movies and decided we all wanted an elegant and over priced experience. Personally I would rather have had this in the summer and had a big picnic where we could relax and catch up with one another and not have this turn into a one-upmanship deal where people feel they must lie about their lives. But if we must have an expensive and overpriced experience lets do it someplace other than a restaurant in Oxford, OH.

But no one asked my opinion and when I gave my opinion (i did email the committee when I found out they were going to have this event Thanksgiving Weekend and saidf that was a bad idea) it was ignored. And because it was ignored bad decisions were made and the whole event was canceled.

Pitiful...

Drug Deathmatch

This is funny and I think it actually happened (if the pix are not photoshopped)

Drug Deathmatch:

To identify the strongest medicines on the market, I decided to undertake a Drug Deathmatch, pitting one over-the-counter drug against another, and seeing which emerged victorious in my body. Honestly, Consumer Reports should be covering this crap, but obviously they don't have the guts...

Coffee

For the past umpteen years I have been a total coffee snob. All I would buy is gourmet coffee, Guatemalan Antigua shade grown being about my all time favorite, though there are some lovely Sumatran coffees too. The past 8 years or so all the coffee I bought was fair trade and certified organic (and usually Guatemalan Antigua).

My Husband would tell me that I was spending way too much on coffee and it really didn't matter as far as taste goes if the stuff is fair trade, organic, shade grown, whole bean or not. He is sooo wrong about this. But than I'm the gourmand, he is not (but I am working on him).

I am drinking a cup of Yuban coffee and I am here to tell it does matter. This stuff is pretty bad (and we have a huge can of it to go through before we buy more...maybe). I opened the can 2 days ago and for some reason was not paying attention to what the stuff tasted like the first day and yesterday decided I made it too weak so today I upped the coffee content by 50% and at least it is not too weak but even with a lot of raw cream in it it is still not very good. Better than instant but not even close to some good whole bean shade grown, organic, fair trade coffee.

At least the stuff has caffeine in it so it is not all bad, but pretty darned close. And because it is too weak for my tastes if used per directions I will be using the huge can up far more quickly than anticipated and can get back to fair trade yummy coffee sooner than later.

911 Remembered

5 years ago today I was sending off a newsletter about the farmers' market we thought we would be attending that day. My last act before the terrorist attacks started was to hit the send button for that email and than Eugene said to come in a see what was happening on the TV.

He was watching the Today Show and eating cereal when the first plane hit the tower. I came in and started watching the event unfold in front of my eyes. I immediatly said this had to be a terrorist attack. Eugene was not so sure than about 20 minutes later the second plane hit the other tower and the pentagon was hit and I said this was more than a terrorist act it was an act of war. And so it was.

It was a beautiful late summer day. Warm and perfectly clear with light winds. We lived in an area with several flyways both military and commercial. I was on the porch just after the whole thing started smoking a cigarette and saw my favorite plane fly over-a DC 9 from the 1940's. A beautiful plane. Likely going up to Greenville. About 30 minutes later the FAA had grounded all planes in the USA and I was outside still and saw the DC 9 coming back. After that no planes and that was strange because we normally had anywhere from 4 to 20 planes in sky at any time-heavy air traffic. And suddenly none. As an environmentally aware person this is something I had wanted, no air traffic, but when it happened it was kind of distasteful, too strange.

Eugene and I started discussing whether or not we should go to market. By this time I was glued to the TV. Flipping through the stations (no cable/satellite here) to see which network had the best coverage. To glean any new information. To watch the horror unfold in front of my eyes. And I was getting really scared. It was getting very unreal.

So after much discussion we decided not to go to market. I thought it would be in bad taste and until we knew what was going on. Not to mention, that most people would be doing what I was doing-watching the TV-and not going out to shop at the farmers' market. And I was watching TV and not getting prepared for market (which takes 6 to 7 hours). So we stayed home and I was told to quit watching the TV (which by now was repeating the tape of the towers burning and falling, not a good thing to watch ad nauseum). And I started cleaning yellow storage onions.

Onion cleaning was what I did most of the day and got several bushels ready for winter. I remember cleaning them on the front porch so I could also watch the TV so Eugene's plan to disconnect me did not really work.

The more I watched the number I got. This was not happening, it could have been an elaborate movie set. And yet it most certainly was. There was a major this does not compute message going through my brain and the brains of hundreds of millions of others. Cleaning the onions was a good thing to do while this was going on. It can be a rather Zen thing to clean onions and a way to keep connected with the fact there will be a future. The onions were to be used all winter for food.

Skip ahead to late afternoon. I am about done with the onions and have gone inside with Eugene. We have been hearing reports of presidential movement around the country. He had been hopping from one AFB to another. We were in the kitchen when we heard a sound that sounded like two explosions. Two big booms that rattled the windows. I hit the floor and Eugene ran outside and starts scanning the horizon for smoke. I get up go outside and look up I see two fighter jets and Air force 1 flying overhead. Weird, but since 9-11 we have discovered AF1 makes regular fly-overs in this airspace. We are both relieved that is was just Bush and not bombs.

That was my day what was yours?