A Green Christmas

I was going to leave everything from the last decade, in the last decade. A good clean break, say good-bye to the place-holder decade and hello to the tens. But I had just about finished this entry and it was pretty classic Jon nutsyness.


This year my landfill diversion obsession had me facing a dilemma in regards to our Christmas tree. In the overall scheme of things not much of a dilemma, granted. But we have been trying to be more environmentally sound, and local and green and pretty PC.

After living in Corvallis, Oregon which produces more than its fair share of Christmas tree, I have pretty good idea of the journey these evergreens are in for. Anyway when a friend told us about The Living Christmas Tree Co. we thought it was a pretty neat idea. A bit expensive but the earth is worth it, don't you think.

Like the Prius, in addition to the cost, there would be a considerable number of compromises.





Like its size for instance. But when you sit on one of those little seats from Ethiopia, the little fella looks quite large. Lots of room for presents though.



Merry Christmas and a very, very Happy New Year.

2010 New Year's Resolutions--A Trial Week

2010 New Year's Resolutions

With the end of the year, the end of the decade, coming in a matter of days, I have started thinking about my resolutions. You know those things that you think about, maybe write down, maybe slur out after one too many cocktails on Dec 31 or swear off on Jan 1 after remembering what you declared a few foggy hours before.

Regardless, as we all know these resolutions very often go unresolved. So this time around I am going to make my resolutions prior to the new year, give 'em a week to set in and coagulate, and then, if and only if, they feel doable, right and worthy do they make the list and ring in the New Year with a toast and some sparkly.

That said, it gives me more flexibility knowing that most of what follows will be left in the decade of the zeros. Here goes:

After half-heartedly searching for a magazine that had a recipe I was planning on doing a couple of weeks, last night for an hour, and then searching again, this time in earnest, this morning for another hour, I realized I have to get a handle on my magazine fetish, not that the resolution involves going without my beloved glossies, no just organizing them.

1 I resolve to organize my magazine collection.

In that same spirit and after receiving for Christmas a most beautiful cookbook that literally brought tears to my eyes, Coco 10 World-Leading Masters 100 Contemporary Chefs.....

2 I resolve to cook 2 new recipes a week from the many books and magazines that have taken residence under my roof.

To balance resolution 2....

3 I resolve to chisel out some six-pack abs... by whatever means necessary,(baring medical procedures and spray tanning)



OK maybe not by any means,




and maybe I should re-think the spray tan.

3 By ends year 2010 have posted 365 entries

4 Get my website, "Jon-Of-All-Trades" up and running

5 Get Back Yard Buddies up and running

6. Pursue Educational Co-op Opportunities

7 One long run each week

(Races and events count)

9 Juijitsu class or training at least 2 times a week

10 Get out of the country at some point

11 Finish all animal housing

12 Patch holes through out house from previous explorations

13.
REDUCE PROJECTS AND LISTS TO SOMETHING

SANE
&
MANAGEABLE!!!!!!!!!!!

Chocolate Gems

A good friend of ours is also a master chocolatier and on occasion gifts us with his magical creations.



They are beautiful and taste as good as they look.....




No better.

I am Spartacus !!!!

I was flipping through a copy of my latest Men's Health magazine when I came on a workout that is similar to one I've been considering and a challenge, the Spartacus Challenge.

Game on!!!

The Spartacus workout

Here's how Men's Fitness put it: " we chose 10 exercises that collectively work every part of your body, and then placed each at a 60-second station, in order to challenge your heart and lungs as well as your muscles. The final product: A high-intensity circuit that’s designed to burn away fat, define your chest, abs, and arms, and send your fitness levels soaring. So you’ll sculpt a lean, athletic-looking body—while getting in the best shape of your life."

So I signed up and posted my before picture:







So, this is part of my New Year's Resolution to get a six-pack ab. Is that the right way to phrase that.

Anyways, from keg to six-pack, here we go!!!

There Will Be Blog

Basically this post is a promissory note, a teaser as it were, and a reminder to me of what I shouldn't let fall through the cracks. I am trying to prevent a blog-jam as it were.

So what's on the menu:

Adventures with Farmer Jon

Rascally Rabbits

Homes Sweet Homes

Year Re-cap and resolutions

Spartacus Challenge

FUNcutional and not-so-Fun, but functional fitness

Chocolate Gems

A Green Christmas

Lakers

And much more...

Like I Need Another Hole in My Head...I Mean House I Mean....

Somehow it made perfect sense to me to cut a hole in the ceiling of our bedroom in search of a beam strong enough to support the aerial silks I got Skye, so that she could practice her aerial arts class at home.






I didn't have to cut too much to find these nice sturdy beams.

Following this same strange logic, I decided if I needed to drywall and patch one hole, how big of a deal would it be to patch a second one.

Searching for the Origin of the Leaks



Now I know exactly where to fix the roof above Skye's room



Having determined the problem here, I can most properly fix it.




And last but not least, I was trying to figure out a cool way to safely house my collection of shot glasses, only to run into conduit, structural support, even the piping for the vacuum system that runs through the house and that we consequently never use.

Which brings me to that hole in the head thing......

Hunky Santa and one of our teachers

Skye and I started taking classes in the aerial arts several months ago.

One of our teachers, Lesley landed a gig as one of the Hunky Santa's candy cane girls down at the Beverly Center. We watched the show twice. It was really amazing and inspirational. I highly recommend the show. It is beautiful and really wild how close one is to the performers. Some times it was to close to get a good picture.



Hey hunky santa and there's our aerial arts instructor, Lesley, just hanging out.



Lesley's, to the far left.




And on top if it all, streamers!!!!







Again I highly recommend the show and its FREE!!!!!!!!!!!

A Nighttime visitor

HOOT HOOT

After I put the chickens up to roost, I was just hanging out in the garden when I heard what certainly sounded like an owl.

It sounded way too much like an owl to really be an owl. And then as I was heading back in, there she was, this big Great Horned Owl perched on our roof.

I climbed up to take a picture put couldn't quite pull it off.

I scarred her and she flew to a neighbor's house.





A view from our rooftop, the owl is hard to make out, but after a few minutes she flew to a house across the street.



Birds of the night sky.



A very beautiful bird indeed.

The Wonderful Journey of Opaline and Shadow -- Part Three

Bunnies in the Garden

Right now the garden beds are bare, in between plantings, so I have been using this area to house the chickens during the day. If it was good for the chickens, maybe it would be good for the rabbits as well. What harm could they do?




I used some branches of rosemary that I had pruned as a little lean to for the bunnies. They liked it.



Hanging with the bunnies



Down the rabbit hole.
They decided to do a little digging which was cute at first.




Then they kind of went nuts, digging out much of the gravel that I had originally put in for drainage purposes.

I had penned off one bed where I had planted one dill plant, one of the only plants in the four beds. They dug under the bed and back up into the bed and devoured the dill.



One of my precious hot pepper plants that the bunnies reduced to a nub. The rabbits seem fine although the word on the internet is varied.

The rains flooded out the bunnies and had them back in the living room for the night.

The Wonderful Journey of Opaline and Shadow -- Part Two

Welcome Home Opal and Conpet(AKA Shadow)

After driving down to San Diego and falling in love with a couple of beautiful Giant Chinchilla Rabbits, we were informed that even though the rabbits were for sale and in fact sold, you could not take possession of said rabbits until the convention closed on Thursday, meaning one more trip down to San Diego.

Where in the World Will the Rabbits Go?

Remember when I said I had planned to maybe get the rabbits in December or beyond? What that translates to is that I had not no permanent housing for the rabbits. I, mean, I had a pretty good idea of where they'd go and it was/is a pretty cool idea, but real rabbits couldn't very well live in an idea. Add to that that after a bit of research it turned out that these "special" rabbits also needed "special" housing. It had to be extra-large, no surprise there, but a wire flooring was not an option because of there weight. They needed to have a wood floor, so my original "idea" for housing would have to be modified. In the mean time they would need a place to stay.



As a temporary housing option, I got a cage meant for a large dog that could be divided. The problem was that while it was big enough for a sleeping quarter, (it was bigger than the cages they had been in for the previous week) they would need more room to move around.



Opaline(Opaline) and Shadow(Conpet),(both re-named, but still unofficial, remember they are pedigree animals after all), exercising in the TV room. That would be the first of their "temporary" housing arrangements.



Opaline trying to take over my chair.



How many rabbits are there? Are they already multiplying?

All smoke and mirrors.

But seriously, what I realized rather quickly was that everything about these rabbits was bigger than normal.

They ate more and well, what goes in must come out, and it did. Which meant that the confined environs of the TV room began to smell of rabbit pretty quickly. I moved them down to the living room where the still unfinished floor would make for a good place for the rabbits to stretch their legs while I planned and made their permanent housing.

Another Craig's List Find

Breezing through Craig's list, I happened upon a listing for rabbit cages, what an amazing stroke of luck. Only thing was they were all the way up in Lancaster.





The back was stuffed with cages so I piled this last 10' x 24" cage on top and headed home, very much Beverly Hillbilly style.

I am still working on the Giant Rabbit Warren, in the meantime.....

To Be Continued.....

Death Valley Marathon

Two Marathons in a Month
I signed up for the Death Valley Marathon because it seemed like it would be a great experience and I signed up for the Malibu Marathon because it was an inaugural event and a friend was also running it. At some point I realized that these two races were only three weeks apart. Then I got crazy busy and pretty much stopped training. In the last 2 months I probably have ran a half a dozen times. Ooops!!!!

Running Under the Sea

The Borax Death Valley Marathon is an out and back course that starts and ends at Furnace Creek Ranch, elevation 190 feet below sea level, straight out Highway 190 (strange coincidence)



Skye and me before the race. It was cold, but I knew that after a couple of hours of running under the desert sun, I would warm up.



Getting ready to embark on another adventure.



Can you find me?



Several miles into the run, on the "flat" course.

The marathoners took off first followed by the half-marathoners and finally the 10k runners took off. When the half-marathon guys and gals blew past me, it kind of quickened my pace.

During the entire race, I would be checking my watch, see that I was going at a faster pace and try to slow down a little. It wasn't until mile 18 or so that I actually believed I might not totally bonk and be reduced to a crawl in the last couple of miles.



I'm just about to the half-way mark.


Video of me running back towards the beginning.



Shots from the course. The beauty and serenity of Death Valley



The scenery did change, a little, but after a couple hours of plodding I was definitely missing my music. (For safety reason, the National Park will not allow headphones to be worn during the event)




Nearing the finish line.

About a mile and a half from the finish, my right hamstring totally started cramping, as did my right and left calf. I had to walk a little but then was able to push through and have a pretty good finish.



The medal, the sweet reward of completion and a PR of 4 hours and 22 minutes.

The Wonderful Journey of Opaline and Shadow -- Part One

13,000 Rabbits

Some where, some how I started thinking rabbits would be a good addition to the Milagro household. I started doing some research, surfing the internet, made some rabbit connections with some bunny-aficionados on-line. And then I ran across the 86th ARBA(American Rabbit Breeder Association) Convention and Show being held in San Diego. This event is like the Olympics for rabbit lovers and not often held on the west coast, so you can imagine how thrilled I was with the timing of this. So Skye and I hit the road again and went south to "The Endless Summer- In Search for the Perfect Rabbit"

The San Diego Convention
Rabbitcon
(Like Comicon but for bunny lovers)

We skipped the Rabbitcon portion of the convention which was held the weekend prior to the week long, yes week long coming together of 13,ooo rabbits and guniea pigs and there loving friends and families.

But we surely didn't miss out on the abundant leporid love that permeated the event .

Everything a bunny lover might pine for.



Are bunny people hyper-sensitive or are people really that cruel?




Here Skye is in the Giant Chinchilla Rabbit section. The breed we decided was the best fit for Milagro "Farms".




Originally I had planned to wait until December or beyond to get rabbits, if we were going to get them at all. But really what chance was there that we would go and see 13,000 cute bunnies, the top of their field so to speak and not leave without one or more.



How could I say no to this beautiful girl? Especially when it was about gorgeous rabbits that were kind of my idea to begin with. Which is how we came to introduce two Giant Chinchilla Rabbits to our family.

Tilapia--A very viable fish source

I love to eat fish, all sorts of fish. I love it raw, fried, baked, grilled or seared. I like it on it's own or mixed into a dish. That being said I also realize that I am far from the only one who enjoys seafood. For years I have been aware of the devastating effect overfishing, pollution and loss of various ecosystems, etc., etc. has had on our finned delicacies. I try to be aware of the type of fish I eat, where it comes from, this and that. So recently when I found out about aquaponics (the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating environment.) I was more than a little intrigued.

I want to and will go into much more detail in regards to the workings of such systems. I have not started my hydroponic set up yet, still doing some research. But since I came across a local source for some non-genetically modified tilapia, I decided to at least get the ball rolling in regards to the fish, as it would take several months for them to reach good eatin' size.



This is not one of our fish, but is an example of a grown one that I was going to filet and make into fish tacos. Only problem is I haven't scaled and cleaned a fish before and I decided to learn how at around 2 o'clock in the morning, the day I was going to host the inaugural "Backyard Buddies" (more on that later). Well I scaled the thing and then when I started pulling out its guts and trimming away gills and fins, with the minutes heading quickly toward early hours as opposed to late ones, I realized that a few fish tacos just weren't worth the effort and ending up scrapping the effort.

After much Googling, I thought I was going to have to make another trip down to San Diego. (That's where I picked up my collection of super hot chili plants as well as the local of the bunny convention which led to 2 southern journeys and of course 2 giant rabbits.) That's when I came across some tilapia on Craigslist.

The Craiglist acquisition deserves its own story and hopefully I'll be able to recount that soon enough. But I wanted to get out some pics of my little fellas, cause so many people have been asking about them.




The 180 gallon horse trough serves as an inexpensive tank for around 30 little tilapia.



Daisy found the new acquisitions very entertaining.




Future fish tacos.



Don't worry fellows, I was just kidding about the tacos.