Winter Solstice

Shriveled red peppers cling to their plants, still standing in frozen ground. The starkest contrast of life and death, warmth and cold. We didn't get up any of the plants this year, just let them fade and take whatever form came most naturally to them. The peppers hang on the longest. Ironically, that food which rarely stands alone in a meal remains alone in our garden. All signs of life removed and still it sprouts proudly from the ground.

Though the days will soon be getting longer-first comes the cold. The old adage "going to bed with the chickens" plays itself out each night, here. Our girls flee to the warmth of the roost, nestled together. Beaks tucked under wing until the sunshine of the morning warms their coop.

I let the squirrel eat for a while -this time of year he's earned the luxury of leaving his home in the woods crossing the road and sneaking over our cattle gate for a scant bite of scratch feed. When I open the door, releasing Ike & Dolly he'll scurry home-heart racing from the chase but with hunger satisfied.

Each morning the cast of characters expands at the single feeder. Female cardinals are Drew's favorite-the slight hints of red in her mostly grey ensemble (much like those peppers in the garden). The more frequent-the loyalists I call them- appeal more to me: chickadee, tufted titmouse, and finches of all hues. They gather, fill their bellies, and fly off to the barren apple tree until time for lunch.

The life in our yard, this day, belongs to animals-not plants. But it's enough to sustain my heart until the thaw. Although next year a goat might be a nice addition.

On Gardens and Humility

There's an article circulating on Facebook that several women have shared entitled "I'm not a feminist and that's okay." While I wholeheartedly disagree I did not tweet ugly remarks with a definition for feminism. I waited until this morning when I feel slightly less reactionary but you know me and I have to say something.


 In the words of Sarah Bessey in her wonderful book Jesus Feminist:


“Our big and good God is at work in the world, and we have been invited to participate fully-however God has gifted and equipped and called each of us. One needn't identify as a feminist to participate in the redemptive movement of God for women in the world. The gospel is more than enough. Of course it is! But as long as I know how important maternal health is to Haiti's future, and as long as I know that women are being abused and raped, as long as I know girls are being denied life itself through selective abortion, abandonment, and abuse, as long as brave little girls in Afghanistan are being attacked with acid for the crime of going to school, and until being a Christian is synonymous with doing something about these things, you can also call me a feminist.”  


You've already heard me quote this here and brag and brag on her amazing book but I just wanted to give you a little refresher and to elaborate. Within the aforementioned article on not being feminist it states that women and men are equal (which is the very definition of feminism dear people).


The part where it seems to disagree with equality is in regards to marriage. It starts throwing around words and terms like "submissiveness" and "head of household" which are terms you learn in youth and Sunday School in your teens. The same time when you realize that only women's names are on the church list for nursery and the list responsible for fixing breakfast. And that in a few years the only way you can have a female Sunday School teacher is if you attend a different class than your husband. Because you know....women can't teach men. (side note: the best Sunday School teacher I ever had was a woman and I refuse to believe her gifts could not be used to teach men).


Last year, Drew and I plowed our garden in our Chacos. It was a long, difficult day but at the end of it I got on my hands and knees and washed my husband's feet. I did the same thing this year. It is a wonderful way to celebrate holy week and the breaking of ground in our garden which will provide us sustenance this summer. It is a humbling, holy practice that I don't think gets the credit it deserves.


All of this to say, we should all humble ourselves before each other. We don't need to make distinctions regarding who is to be more humble or submissive. We should all approach each other with humility; willing to learn whatever we can from one another.


Let's stop pretending this is not a time when men and women may not have typical household roles and stop forcing them on them in church. I mean what do you require of a gay couple in your church? Which one has to fix the breakfast? (Perhaps that's a moot point in your church in which case you have more reflection to do than I thought).


 And women when you feel overwhelmed by the breakfasts, the household showers, the nursery duty, decorating the church, etc. remember what Jesus says to Martha, I'm improvising a bit here but he said something like "None of that shit really matters, I matter."


The message I'm rambling about here is that feminism truly supports all women. I LOVE to stay home and I'm still trying to figure out a socially acceptable way to stay home without having children. Stay at home dog-mom still gets looks of disgust when I suggest it in public. Feminism is about supporting one another and lifting each other up. Articles like the one published give a false sense of the true meaning of the word which is why when I look at the people who have "liked" the article it's mostly men.


If there's a woman who is suggesting that you cannot be a feminist if you stay home she's not a feminist, she is a bitch and you need to find new friends.


Also, if you are not a follower of Jesus and you say you are not a feminist allow me to give you some words from Amy Poehler in response to those who renounce feminism:


"That's like someone being like, I don't really believe in cars, but I drive one every day and I love that it gets me places and makes life so much easier and faster and I don't know what I would do without it."




Now that I'm done with this post I realize it has nearly nothing to do with gardens and only a little to do with humility but I'm gonna leave it because if I put feminist in the title my readership goes down.

2015 Recap

2015 is coming to a close and I find it easier to think back on my year if I write it down. We've had a fun-filled year with it's fair share of ups and downs but here are some of the highlights of our year.


Books
My reading challenge for this year was to read 25 books. So far I've made it to 23. I'd like to think I could knock out a book a day these next couple of days and I'm sure as heck gonna try but it may not happen. I'm usually late to the game with books so it's not as if any of them are new this year but here's my list of books that are worthy of your time. They are quite varied: political, fiction, religious, Appalachian, cooking, you name it....it's on the list.


1. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom
2. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
3. On Writing by Stephen King
4. Gray Mountain by John Grisham
5. Deer Hunting with Jesus by Joe Bageant
6. Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans
7. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant
8. Heritage by Sean Brock


Movies


I went to the movies exactly twice this year. Both times with my sister to see rated R female comedies which were funny but I'm not qualified to give you advice on movies considering I don't watch them.


Podcasts
I discovered podcasts this year and my life was changed forever. These are worth your time (as if you didn't already know).


1. Radiolab (the very best)
2. StoryCorps (duh)
3. Gilmore Guys (they break down every episode of Gilmore Girls, it's my guilty pleasure)
4. Serial (which I haven't actually listened to yet but I've heard only wonderful things about it)


Music


This year we bought a record player and started our collection of albums. We saw Old Crow in concert 3 times (Blacksburg, Denver, Roanoke).

TV
I may not know movies but I am an expert TV watcher. Aside from watching countless football games these are the shows I wasted precious hours binge-watching:


1. Drunk History
2. The Mindy Project
3. Sherlock
4. Parks and Rec
5. Orange is the New Black
6. Gilmore Girls for the 47th time


Animals
In 2015 a small fortune in vet bills (2 hip replacements, lots of pain meds, physical therapy, Lyme's disease test) and added some new outside family members to the farm. First 2 hens and a rooster, then 4 hens and minus one rooster. Do the math and we have 6 wonderful hens and said good riddance to a hateful old rooster who attacked all of us.

Food
We grew our largest garden to date and had the widest variety we've ever had. We ended the season with 10 cans of strawberry rhubarb jam, 15 cans of kraut, 16 cans of pickles, 4 cans of pickled peppers, 14 cans of salsa, 6 cans of tomatoes, and 40 cans of spaghetti sauce. We also put a good bit of asparagus, broccoli, rhubarb, corn, and zucchini in the freezer.

Travel
Our big summer trip was when I got on an airplane for the first time and we travelled to Colorado for a week where we hiked, camped, relaxed and decided we didn't want to move there.


We attended our first pro football game in Charlotte and watched Green Bay lose. Drew went to Italy for 2 weeks. We camped with family on Memorial Day. We spent a week on the New River with my parents. We had two weddings in Tennessee and my siblings and I spent a week in Williamsburg.

Here's a little video recap of the year

I hope you all have a wonderful New Years and a joyful 2016 filled with sweet friends, books to lose yourself in, travel to beautiful places, and animals to love on. What were some of your 2015 highlights? Books? Places to travel? Podcasts? Chicken names?

Learning to Love all things Kitchen

In our new place the kitchen was one of the things we compromised on because we were crazy over the living/dining and wonderful outdoor space. It has it's good points, there is a deep freezer which is perfect for my deer hunter and for our veggies and fruit we've already started filling it with. However, the storage is quite pitiful.

This is it. For food and everything.

In all of our other places, even our first little apartment we had TONS of cabinet space and sometimes even a pantry. When we got married my mother in law had us a pampered chef shower and then we also had the usual household shower so we have lots of trinkets and kitchen schtuff. Especially for people who are generally sorta blah about cooking.

We purchased this little pretty at Target and it has made a big difference. We were left with 4 lovely yellow stools from the last place and this allows us to use them, occasionally, with the leaf on the back of said cart.

We still have lots of kitchen stuff in boxes upstairs that we go and rummage through when we need things like casserole dishes.

Drew's next task is to find a way to creatively hang pots and pans to clear out some drawer space. I'm hoping for something like this....

I'm not sure what it is about the new place if it's all the windows or the availability of such fresh ingredients right outside my door or the summer but I've loved cooking as of late.

Sunday we had chicken tacos and Mexican style corn on the cob. It was so fresh and delish. I could eat the slaw mixture with a spoon.

I prefer fish tacos and the recipe I used (found here) is technically for fish tacos but I had no fish on hand and I'm cautious about fixing it. I also did not use the that particular brand of sriracha. 

The corn is sooo easy (I cheat and fix corn on the cob in the microwave, wrap it in a damp paper towel for 1.5 minutes) then I rubbed it with butter. Sprinkled fresh parm a little chilli powder and squeezed lots of lime juice. Oh it is just grand! 

Yesterday I was inspired by The Barefoot Contessa (as I often am but very rarely feel adequate enough to tackle her recipes). Last week she made summer garden pasta and I tried it yesterday. It was so fresh and summery and stinky. As I told Drew this morning there was a cloud of garlic hanging over our bedroom from our stinky garlic breath. But totally worth it. The link above is to a half recipe for 2-3 but Ina's recipe is here. 

We had dinner at the home of a couple we recently met on Monday and I was asked to bring dessert. I was inspired by a new foodie friend I met at the baby shower last weekend to try Accidental Chocolate Cake. 

The cake is gluten free, dairy free, and grain free. It was quite moist, healthy, and still delicious CHOCOLATE. There are not pictures because it didn't last long enough but I'm now a believer in coconut oil which I had never used prior to this recipe. See ya butter!

I'm looking forward to trying out some apple and blackberry recipes which I've recently begun filling our deep freeze with.

Recently

Last week I travelled to Cincinnati with my brother and parents. My brother had never seen the Reds play and I hadn't been since I was 18. (I'm pretty sure my parents hadn't been since their lives pre-kids so at least 25 years ago).

We saw two great games. I'm no huge baseball fan but I love sports of all kinds, especially going to games. Eating is my favorite part of most sporting events but if I'm going to watch a baseball game I prefer to do so on the river in Cincy. Plus, these games made me appreciate the sport even more. It was good to get to hang with my fam and enjoy "America's pastime."

My parents thought they were going to a Celtics game, I think. 

It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, especially after the game the second day went into 12 innings. I had just enough time to enjoy breakfast at my granny's house the next morning (and for her to send me home with more veggies than I could eat in a lifetime) before heading home.

Two of the wonderful ladies in our former small group are pregnant and both due in October. I got to see sweet Kate and her adorable belly for the first time since her pregnancy for lunch on Friday. Then on Friday evening and Saturday we got to enjoy the Taylor's last bit of time here in Virginia. Their baby shower/going away party was perfect. So many people who love them so much came to see them off and send love to Arlo.

Sarah is super excited for this gift. 

Yesterday Drew and I did some things around the house while simultaneously watching Potterhead weekend on abcfamily. I read recently that in your mid-twenties you judge the success of your weekend by it's productivity and not your drinking stories. If that is true then we win. Drew did the mowing and weed-eating, I got groceries and did our meal planning for the week, we watered and weeded the gardens, picked blackberries and gathered apples, went to the farmer's market, Drew colored my hair, did laundry, built a firepit, cooked a kickass dinner and watched a LOT of HP. I love being back in the New River Valley and I'm looking forward to many more weekends in our new home.

Long Weekends

 

 We left for our anniversary trip last Thursday and stopped over in Williamsburg for delicious sandwiches at The Cheese Shop. We, of course, had Ike with us so we required outdoor seating. But it was a nice day and the little historical square had doggy bowls all around filled with water.

 

We had time to kill so we wandered over to "colonial" Williamsburg. We passed a sign that said "thank you for paying for your ticket" which we did not do. It was very sunny and seeing as we are both pasty white and did not want to get burnt before we ever got to the beach, we didn't spend much time there. Although their flowers were lovely. 

 

 

We left Williamsburg and drove straight to the beach. Ike was pretty comical. He, like me, is not a big fan of water so he did not quite know what to think of it so he took to eating all of the crap that had washed up on the beach.

 

 

Thursday night we ordered pizza and rented Monument's Men. Then watched Blackfish and went to sleep depressed. 

 

 

The next morning we were on the beach before 9:00 and it was quite chilly. So I looked like this for the first 3 hours.... We ate lunch at a little place on the beach where Ike could be tied right next to us which was a good thing because I proceeded to feed him every bite of my fish tacos which were shit.

The crab dip was on point though. 

That night we found some perfect crab leg grub at this little million year old hole in the wall. Drew ended up with sun burnt feet despite my warnings that feet are the worst thing that can be sun burnt.

We listened to The Fault In Our Stars on audiobook in the way there and home. I had heard mixed reviews. One of my friends loathed it. But we found it rather enjoyable. I mean it's very sad but I loved the dialogue and Augustus Waters charmed me. I thought John Greene did a great job writing for teenagers (although they had a very advanced vocabulary). 

 

Sunday we had a cookout on our roof with some friends. I love summer foods, they're so colorful. We grilled pork chops and corn and enjoyed cilantro dip and spinach salad. Our friends, Sarah & Ben (and little one on the way) are moving to Pittsburgh next month so we are trying to get in all of the Taylor time we can. They are the friends who make us want to have kids. They are so thoughtful about each detail of little one to come and we love listening to their thoughts on the whole affair. Also we relate well on familial matters. :) 

Monday we enjoyed a baseball game with our North Carolinian friends but it was rather warm. I disappointed everyone by not eating as much as normal but I did probably get the award for drinking the most water and requiring the most sunscreen.

Yesterday we ended our amazingly long weekend by heading over to water the garden. I can't wait to have more colorful foods fresh from our own garden. Hope your weekend was relaxing but full of friends and food.

On another note, I'm halfway through The Book Thief right now. What are you all reading?

Say Cheese

So in case you don't follow me on other social networks, here's the latest on our vegan diet:

In case you can't tell that's a crap-load of cheese. We feel off the wagon yesterday at around 10:00 AM

We were waiting for a table for brunch yesterday morning and I told Drew he would be responsible for planning meals the rest of the month so he made the call (thankfully before brunch) to finish out the month as vegetarians instead of vegans. I didn't object because I knew what awaited me at brunch: French toast!!!

This was our last vegan meal the night before:

Saturday we did this:

2 full laundry baskets of potatoes. I was so sore the next day but it was a good haul and we had some good size taters.

Other weekend news:
-I finished my book.
-Girls night watching Nashville was a success I was skeptical of the show but ended up really liking it
-Cleaned out the spare bedroom upstairs and got rid of a ridiculous number of movies and other misc. items

-Had a bonfire
- And got our Mumford tickets in the mail!

 

Recently

I was figuring it up the other day and in the two years Drew and I have been married, he's been on 4 guys trips. One fishing trip each spring. And a hunting trip each fall. Ask me how many girls trips I've had.....until last week the answer was zero.

My gal-pal and female soul-mate and I made a quick girls trip to Charleston and it was just what the doctor ordered.
She's one of the few people who I can cry with over dinner in a snazzy seafood restaurant and not feel ridiculous.
We continue to request Bob Seger at every bar we go to even though no one ever agrees to play it.
We have a knack for laughing at the most inappropriate things and time and we attract the most interesting characters.
She shares my love of food, beer and a comfy bed all of which we enjoyed there.

In other news...
I got to spend some time at home last week as well for the annual Relay for Life my family participates in and just some relaxing family time.

 



Also while home I finished this book which is so unlike me but I like to keep people on their toes. I had heard my friend Colleen suggest it and compare it to the Hunger Games but by Stephen King. It was heart-wrenching. It has settled on me and I can't seem to get it out of my head.

And lastly I recently got this tattoo for my mamaw. It turned out perfectly and I'm so glad to have her with me always.

 

And these are our most recent veggies:

 



You are now officially caught up on every aspect of my life. Thrilling, right?

I'm going to try to make the most of my next 3 weeks because they are the only honest-to-goodness summer weeks I'll have had with no school work. What shall I do???....

Retired at 24

Our garden has grown into quite the beautiful creature lately. We have had lots o' lettuce and spinach and soon will have tomatoes. We've taken a lot more pains this year and water it and tend to it like real farmers. And I must admit I'm pretty proud when people come over and brag on it.

Where our garden is located now we can see it from our front porch or our patio. So, we can admire it anytime we spend time outdoors. Even when we spend time in our state-of-the-art Olympic size pool like we did yesterday.

He built a fire in 90 degree weather to keep the gnats off of him.

This weekend I've also been working on our guest room, sprucing it up a bit in anticipation of having company soon.

I love our house and it is so nice to have all of this extra indoor and outdoor space. But I can't help but wonder if we've got it backwards. We're only 24 and we aren't ready for a family anytime soon. I think we got this house in the hopes of lots of company which does happen occasionally but not a lot. Everyone is busy, like us and it's hard to get away.

Our lease here ends next year around the time I'll be finishing my Master's and around the time most of our friends will be leaving. So, some big changes are in store for us. Namely: downsizing and relocating.

I do promise to make the most of this place for the next year and I hope to have a place just like it someday to call our own but we aren't there yet. We need to make sure we aren't retired at 24. So if you want to experience life here on Bishop, make plans for the next 10-12 months, I've got your room ready! And these 2 are lots of fun to hang with.