BOOK REVIEW: Time Traveler's Wife

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


While I enjoyed the book, I found myself a little more emotionally detached than I normally would have been. I had put this book on my to-be-read pile over a year ago, and a friend contacted me and told me that I should wait. At the time, I had recently had a miscarriage, and she said that this might be a tough read. She was definitely right. I'm in a much better place in dealing with the miscarriage now, and decided to go ahead and read it with my book club. But I never really connected with the characters like I thought I would. I admit I did skim some of the tough scenes (mostly for my sake), but even then, I wasn't really connecting. Mostly I just felt very sad for the characters. It is still worth reading. I think my history kind of colored it for me.

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Book Review: The Help

The Help by Kathryn Stockett


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I listened to this book on audio. Definitely one of the best books that I have read this year. This is a story set back during the beginning of the civil rights movement. It is told from three different perspectives. Two of them are maids and one is a society girl. The way the story weaves between the three of them is truly beautiful. It really got me thinking about that time in our history in a different way. But beyond that, it is just a beautifully written, heart-moving story. I definitely think that this is a book worth picking up.

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CSA Week 1

So here is the haul for the first week. We got a mini tour of the farm, and it was very interesting to see all the different areas.  We got to meet the owners and they were great.  They said that the baskets/boxes will be bigger each week as more and more stuff starts to mature.  We will split this with the other family.  In our half, there will be enough for 3 nights worth of side salads, plus oregano for something (not real sure what to do with herbs yet), swiss chard as a side for a meal, and strawberries to munch on.

The boxes are setup when you get there, and you get to pick an herb, and something from the members choice table (I think it was supposed to be rhubarb, but it didn't end up being ready yet).

CSA - Community Supported Agriculture

It has been awhile.  So instead of trying to catch you all up, I'm just going to jump right in like I've been blogging all along.

Chris and I joined a local CSA.  We have split the membership with friends of ours.  I have been wanting to join one for a number of years, but the sign up time always came and went, and it didn't get done.  When you join a CSA, you are essentially getting a "membership" to their farm.  Depending on the agreement, you get a share of the produce during harvesting season.  For our particular CSA, Berries on Bryan Station it was $400 per share, and we get 20 weeks worth of produce.  Since we had never joined before, we weren't sure how much we would get each week, and if we would be able to eat it all (we aren't huge vegetable people).  So we decided to split a share this first year and see how it goes.   I picked this particular CSA because they offer strawberries, blackberries and raspberries throughout the season instead of just veggies.

We hope to get exposed to some new vegetables, and hopefully establish better eating habits.  In the past, our regular vegetables have been potatos, corn, green beans, and squash.  Generally our salads come from a bag.  And more often than not, I end up throwing the salad bag away when it gets all nasty.  I know that a lot of people join CSAs because they want organic vegetables, or they are concerned about buying locally to help reduce how far their veggies travel to get to them.  I will be honest and say that we didn't join for those reasons.  I don't have anything against organic food, and while I'm interested in sustainability, I don't really do much about that yet.  However, I do like supporting the local economy, and I wanted to be exposed to a more diverse set of vegetables.  My hope is that we get a little bit healthier this summer.  I also hope that I can show that this is actually a good deal.  I'm going to try and keep track of how much food we get, and kind of compare that to what we would spend if we bought the same stuff at the grocery store.  And I'm sure there will be other benefits that we discover along the way.

I will try to post pictures each week of what we get from the CSA.  If you have any questions or advice, definitely leave a coment.  I know I tried to do a little research from real people before we joined, and it was hard to find.

As a side note, I've also planted a tomato plant in the topsy-turvey (the upside down growing thing), and a basil plant and sage plant.  I'm not fond of gardening AT ALL.  But I do think it is an important skill to have.  In the past, I have had ZERO luck growing anything.  I have 10 black fingers.  But I'm determined to try. :)