4 Rochester

For those who watch birds avidly, FOY stands for First-of-Year. My first Great Blue Heron of the year, seen on a bike ride on the Erie Canal, near Lock 33. Every Spring, we go out to a special spot in the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge. If you go at the right time, you'll hear a chorus of frogs...

Michael Pollan in the New York Times asks if modern food factories are related to the recent epidemic of MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant form of staph infection which now kills more people in the U.S. than AIDS. And just why are all those bees dying and what does it have to do with the monocultural mode...

Sew Mama Sew is promoting handcrafted holidays through its meme , wherein bloggers answer some questions about their own giftgiving. Here are some of mine. Do you have a favorite gift that you love to give? Every year I make jams, sauces, pickles, and relishes all throughout the summer. This year, I...

Keeping up with the blog has made me much more aware of these moments of pleasure, and, since gratitude doesn't always come easily...it's important to take note when it does... --going to the Rochester Public Market with DD (at HER insistence), where we talked to a local farmer with this charming...

Sunday morning I learned that there was a freeze warning for the night. That meant I put aside some of my other plans for the day in order to bring in the harvest (but not without finishing that little pumpkin, from Curly Purly, that I felt compelled to make over the last couple of days.) Mostly herbs...

It really doesn't take a lot to bring me pleasure. No mood-altering chemicals, windfall of money, or adrenaline rush needed... Here's a non-inclusive list of tidbits from daily living to show you what I mean. October Dahlia A walk at Taughannock Falls State Park, complete with dozens of these...

For Blog Action Day, a challenge to pledge to give up bottled water. To take the pledge, click on the button to the left. Here's the information from the Carbon Conscious Consumer's ongoing challenge. When you want pure, healthy drinking water, you should reach for bottled water, right? Surprisingly...

So...in case you haven't noticed (and why not??)...I'm half way to two of my three goals. I have 21 projects (okay, that's not quite half, but close enough!) and many more under progress. Clapotis. Calla Coasters. Signs of fall-inspired socks and cross-stitch. The projects have slowed down...

A dear friend has asked for recipes for preserving. I am happy to oblige by sharing my favorite books. (These are linked to Amazon so you can get a good feel for them, but I encourage you to support your local library/independent bookseller/used bookstore.) My "bible" (somewhat literally, since...

According to Chinese medicine, my dominant elements are Earth and Water. (Okay, you can stop reading now and skip to the pictures if you find yourself snickering at that first sentence. But, I'll just tell you that principles and treatments from Chinese medicine and ayurveda have changed my quality...