My Awesome Town

The continuing saga of me combing the village and lands around for interesting folks. I am energized every single friggin day by how great my homeys are, and what has it been? Twenty three years and I still alight new relationships with little more than a smile.

Yesterday I went to meet Jeannie who is farmsteading down off Thornhill. She claims her house was built in 19 gosh was it 24?

I have done all of the research on Montclair history and never heard about this farm. We know about Hayes, The Dingee Estate and Meadeau, but this place is a total NUGGET of history. When I walked in I felt the souls of a LONG time ago. It was, as a Montclair fanatic, a very HEADY experience.

So Jeannie, who is a music teacher for elementary school kids at Windthrust is doing very cool things at her house












She has chickens that are making her eggs and she has goats that are making milk for her cheese
She is making cheese for her own consumption that is totally amazing.



She is making Elderflower Soda and this amazing butter with sugar and goats milk reduced to a honey like pulp.

OMG
I plan to attend her Cheese y Yoga day on July 9th to learn more about her and her lovely style.

She just showed up out of the blue..........
and how wonderful she is!

Village life

Very nice day today.... well I guess we don't need to mention THAT again..... that we live in what feels like Rio De Janiero with sweeping views, balmy gentle winds and glorious people.... that we eat cheese and have dogs, talk progressively with one another and.... bla bla bla.. I had three friends call about garden cues today, what to put in, how to irrigate etc.. even the amazingly busy Peggy Orenstein apparently spent today in le jardin betwix her world travels. Go Peggy! I am personally pushing for dinner plate dahlias, zinnias and rubra lillies. If anyone needs help with thier garden, please call, and please, please, take the time to do the work. I am hoping to initiate what I call a "garden Groovy" where we do this stuff together.

I went to the farmers market and gathered a mountain of food for Tuesdays LAST TEST RUN of Market babies; a fundraiser for the Alameda County Community Food Bank. We are making a calendar, but not of naked ladies, rathersweet precious babies. I have a lot of strawberries right now.... not to mention chard, bread, rhubarb, artichokes, potatoes, BIG breads etc.. Stay tuned. By Thursday I should have some images posted of our six newborns in these awesome sets created by the fab Victoria Cullen. I can't wait to spend the day with new friends fresh from the Milky Way. It will be a win/win as we allow new mothers to get aquainted and work toward our fundraiser for hungry folk in our town. Hungry? Disgusting!

I then went to Great Good Place for Books and listened to Gayle Foreman read from her books, If I Stay and Where I Went. There were a hundred people there, steadfast fans and I came home with an autographed book for Alice, 17 tanning on the balcony who said, "MOM!!!! I have totally read these. Where have you been?" Apparently not in the right place.....She reads like a beaver chews wood, and when she gets her summer job down there at the bookstore I will feel like president Lincolns folks....... dumb..... yet proud.

I am however, good with a camera, and I love my village. I love my peeps. I love this life on the hill.

And this camera's gonna make a difference. Darn it!!

Love Squared

This Friday will be poignant and wonderful at Uptown motors. A friend told me she was working with a charity, AASK (adopt a special kid) and I said, "Ina help!!!!" (toddler lingo for I want to or I want a)

I volunteered to shoot three families that had adopted a special kid. I hadn't foreseen how joyful it would be. Just a wee sampling.

John and Dennis are wonderful parents to Issac, Brian and Chris. Three brothers they adopted five years ago. Wow! Such lovely kids, and is that alot of men in one house, or what? Friday we are having a benefit to raise money to help support and organize cool things like this


Here we have Martin and Allison who were blessed with Havanna and Harvey. Just adorable!


Marilee and Emelio are just two peas in a pod.
A single gal who simply knew what she wanted and went out there and found love.... a two way street. The whole experience makes me feel warm inside.

Beautiful, Inside and Out

That'd be Christa Pfeiffer

A truly, "full of light" woman.





When I heard her sing, a whole new door of my heart opened.

Her classical voice is a sculpted work of art. I tell ya, she shames a dinner plate dahlia.

It is worth the trip to spend an evening to hear her sing. Her site has a calendar, as well as some samlings of her music. Check her out http://www.christapfeiffer.com.





I make a very good date, should anyone wish to join me at one of her gigs....