Rachel is 30

Like a good Port, she has aged well.  Okay, so maybe that isn't the most flattering opening, but it is true.  Many of you may know that Rachel and I first met when my family moved in two doors down from hers in 1983.  We lived on Glen Echo Drive for several years before my family moved to Texas and then Illinois.  We moved around the country and finally ended up back in the Columbus area.  One thing led to another over the years, culminating with Rachel and my marriage in December, 2000.

Knowing her now for almost three decades, I have had the opportunity to watch her grow and change.  At first, I didn't pay too much attention as she was two years younger than me and girls had cooties.  Over the years, my interests obviously, ahem, sharpened.  Now I find her enthralling, intelligent, willfully independent, stubborn and in general a wonderful person with whom to share my life.  We have shared five houses now together, kept four dogs, several fish, four chickens and also one child.  Life and our relationship has not always been smooth sailing, but it could never have been described as boring.

As you can tell,  I have found Rachel to be a wonderful companion who has helped me to grow and mature over the last decade in many ways.  I can't imagine life without her, and am pleased to welcome her to her third decade.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RACHEL!!!

Our Family Doesn't Buy Cakes

Sweet Lil turns five today.  I have no words to summarize my complex feelings about being her mother, nor reflections on her growing maturity and beauty.  Where to turn, then, but to food?

The setting: Mother and daughter are walking through an unfamiliar grocery store.

Mother, reading list: spaghetti, Parmesan.  Where's the Parmesan? Daughter: Can I have a...

Mother, interrupting: Oh here it is.  We're going to use already shredded cheese at your spaghetti birthday party because it will be easier.  Ok?

Daughter: Uh huh.

Mother: Now, lunch meat.  Do you really think you would eat lunch meat at school?

Daughter, spying the bakery case of decorated cakes: Hey, we could just buy a cake!

Mother: Our family doesn't buy cakes.

Daughter: Why?

Mother: Um, it's just not something we do.  We like to make them ourselves.

Daughter: But those are painted!  Can we paint mine?

Mother: Not really. Ours will taste better, though.  Do you still want decorations from the cake store?

Characters move on to other shopping.

Lil was beaming as we sang happy birthday around her homemade, not-from-a-box-or-a-store cake. Devie tasted not a morsel, unlike last year's thievery. The chocolate on chocolate cake was a sweet end to a lovely party for our new five year old.

Does your family buy cakes? Do I really have a five year old kid already?

Jars: Trash or Treasure?

This crate of jars was given to me by my mother who received it from my paternal grandmother.  What does this look like to you? Trash?

To me, it was a box full of potential. I know Grandma Joyce is a collector of stuff.  Out of the box of miscellaneous jars, I decided not to keep many of unknown origin or with chipped rims. After a little digging and sorting, look what turned up:

Nearly two dozen usable canning jars. Of course they will all need new lids, which I buy every time I can.

I found some of my very favorite jar style in that box.  I adore these squat squared half pint jars.  They are shaped differently than anything I can buy new and the flat back side gives a lovely view of what is canned inside.

Using inherited or thrifted jars adds a whole new dimension to the preservation effort.  As I'm milling applesauce, coring tomatoes, or stirring jam, I often wonder what the life was like of the woman or man who used the jars before me.

Were they preserving out of necessity or hobby?  Were they making a special family recipe or trying something new?  Were they working alone with babes underfoot, alongside their teenage children, or with a group of friends as my mother used to do?  Of course, I will never know the situations for most vintage jar in my stash.

I can guess with relative assurance that anyone who went to the pains of home canning some time ago would be delighted to know that someone is still using their jars and practicing the art of food preservation. This post is part of Simple Lives Thursday.

30 before 30 Update

It is now twenty days until my 30th birthday.

The day after my 30 before 30 post, my next youngest sister (do you know I'm the oldest of four sisters?) knocked on the door, shoved a handful of pennies at me, and walked away. I later counted them; there were thirty.

Nothing happened the next day.

The day after that, the dogs barked wildly at Lil's bedtime.  We stopped reading a story and found two gifts on the porch - a plum figure with thirty toothpicks and a string of thirty paper clips.  Two of my sisters were hiding in the bushes.

Are you getting the theme?

Every day since, there's been a gift of thirty somethings.  My sisters have left a plethora of pixie sticks, a swarm of plastic spider rings, a secret message comprised of thirty characters, and, my personal favorite, thirty gummy bears glued to the steps of the house.

You can probably imagine the fun Lillian and the neighbor children had at chomping the heads off the stuck gummy bears.

I am excited for the next twenty days.  I am already realizing that a few of my goals (weight loss and escapist vacation) might not happen, but I am OK with that.  There are other trips on the horizon and I'm exercising more regularly so who cares about the number on the scale?

30 before 30

Today marks exactly thirty days before my thirtieth birthday.

I will not be one to hang on to age 29. I look forward to leaving behind my 20s, a decade of moving, changing and questioning. I love the grey hairs beginning to sprout on my head and hope for new wisdom and satisfaction in the coming decade. How can I not want to turn 30? There are fun things being planned for my birthday weekend!

In these last thirty days before age thirty, I want to accomplish a few things:

1. I will lost 5 pounds, returning to my weight as a 20 year old. I plan to do this by relying less on cheese and starches to get my through hunger and exercising a bit more.

2. I will hold an Artie Isaac-style Summit to figure out what I want to do when I grow up.

3. I will start the next tattoo. Four ideas are rolling around in my mind: apple with negative space shape of Ohio, modified 'kiss' illustration from Lil, spiral of paper cranes, or something do to with a vegetable garden.

4. I will go somewhere for fun. I have an incredible yearning to travel right now with my little family, not worrying about extended family or big plans. Conveniently, Alex has two free stays at a Marriott hotel so we can even travel on the cheap.

5. I will say no. It's hard for me, but I constantly over schedule and over stress myself. My 30s might be the decade of saying no.

I will report back to you about these goals on or about October 9th, 2010. And if you're wondering, yes, of course I have a birthday list!

Guest Post on Cbusmom.com

I'm over at CbusMom.com writing about Stratford Ecological Center today.  Read about the working farm and visit soon - you'll love it! PS.  Have you voted today?  I'm in the running to win a ticket to a conference in Asheville North Carolina and need your ten second vote for me, @racheltayse. Thanks!

In the New York Times

Look! Lil and I are in the New York Times! It's an article about when to start kindergarten, something I did truly debate ad nauseam this year. Ultimately we decided to start school next year, allowing her one more year of part time preschool.

To some degree, the article focuses on parents holding their children back to give them an advantage later on. Lil's success compared to other kids, nor the impact of her age on the classroom on a whole, did not enter my mind until being interviewed for this article. We made the decision based on what would serve her needs best. We know she will benefit greatly from another year in a playful, emotional and social focused preschool before full day kindergarten.

How it Happened

This article came about because of the HARO, or Help A Reporter Out, list.  Anyone can join as a reporter or source.  I participate as a potential news source so I can share my experience as a small business owner, blogger, and locavore.

A few times a day, HARO sends out a simple text email with queries from journalists. When I get the chance, which is not always, I read the query subject lines and send off a quick email to the journalist if I might fit their needs.

In this case, the writer Pamela Paul responded to my email with a request for a phone interview. She shared that it was for the New York Times. I agreed to be interviewed and we spent ten minutes on the phone a few days later.

Early this week, a few weeks after the phone interview, the Style section editor called and asked if Lil and I would be willing to be photographed. I agreed. We set a date for a local freelance photographer to come to our house.

Greg Sailor spent about 45 minutes at the house on Thursday morning. He took pictures of us reading on the porch, playing, and coloring. You can visit his his online portfolio and sweet bicycle photo sites.

An editor called me again on Friday to confirm a few details and the story was published!

Berryhill U-Pick Farm in Xenia Ohio

Our frozen blueberry stash was not replenished this July as in years past.  To remedy this situation I have been hunting for an opportunity and location to pick berries.

The timing worked out this past weekend when we were visiting family in the near-Dayton area.  Searching through PickYourOwn.org revealed Berryhill Farm south of Xenia Ohio.  We made plans to stop there before lunch at The Winds in Yellow Springs and dinner with relatives.

Picking at a new farm is always a bit of a risk.  Will the fruit be tasty and low chemical?  People friendly?  Prices reasonable?

Berryhill delightfully exceeded expectations.  Blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries were all abundant, ripe, and extraordinarily tasty.  Signs labeled the bushes pesticide free, which I have to believe based on the diversity of plant and insect life in the field.

The fields were very well maintained with wide rows for easy picking.  Blackberries and raspberries were trellised up off the ground.  There were only two other parties picking last Saturday morning.  Even with many families the spacious farm would not seem crowded.

The Elliot blueberry variety planted at Berryhill is relatively small in form, yet easy enough to pick with a little stooping.  It actually is the perfect variety to tag-team as a parent-child group where the child sits on the ground below picking the low fruit and an adult can stand over gathering berries from above.

In less than an hour's time we picked eight pounds of blueberries and three pints of raspberries for a total of around $20.  Cash and checks are accepted.  Pre-picked berries and a small variety of other fruits are also available as are raw honey and ice cold water.

Berryhill has abundant parking and a friendly staff.  They are lacking public restrooms.  If you are traveling a distance in the heat of summer it's a good idea to bring a cooler with ice to keep your berries fresh on the way home.  From our home in Clintonville, we arrived at Berryhill in just under and hour.  They are just 20 minutes from Dayton or Yellow Springs.

Raspberries and blackberries should be in season for another three weeks or more.  Blueberries are likely to only last through the next week.

Lillian, our almost five year old, summarized the trip well: "The blueberries are very yummy there."

This post was added to Two for Tuesdays.