14th August 2009

I have been trying to take it easy the last few days, as bambino has been
sitting really low messing with my hips, bladder and walking. I have been going
swimming for 2 hours each day which is helping my achy muscles elsewhere from
the lack of doing what I normally do. My muscles want to stretch and work out.

Last night I went to my medieval group's weekly Arts & Sciences meeting. It is
the first one I have been able to attend since being down here and I had a
lovely time. It is about 3 hours each Thursday and we work on all sorts of
projects. Of course I took documentation, took some more projects home to do and
it will be in the magazine. I have been writing, but no house to set up the
press yet and there is not a hope I can even get into my storage locker. It is
packed to the gills. You try to put a 40 acre farm into a storage locker sometime!!
But in the meantime I am writing.

But the items we made last night will go to for largess to give out as gifts and
awards to people within the SCA Kingdom here. There are many talented craftsmen
within my area and it is a boon to learn their crafts from them.

Photo Above: Me with my very first book I made. The cover is handmade parchment from sheep skin that my friends made. My face is red from the heat and I am REALLY freckling from the Oregon sun.

Today I decided to walk a bit to exercise and explore 'my kinds of stores' (I
generally hate shopping), so I drove and went to a craft store to find some fun
things for another project I am working on. (It is difficult to get into
anything very big as I am yet living out of a backpack and in a spare room with
2 cats).

I didn't find what I was looking for adzactly, but I did find other fun
inexpensive things to make a project from for the magazine, to each a class with
and also to donate to the largess as well.

Next door to the art store, I found the Mecca of farm stores. Everything from
grain to fencing to saddles to clothing. It is the largest farm and ranch store
I have ever seen. The prices on grain is so much cheaper here than up at my
former home. Even with the currency conversion, chicken food is half the price
and 'natural'.. aka not certified organic, but which doesn't have any additives
and medications either.

On a side note:
Being on the road so much traveling back and forth to Canada and here, I am
forced to eat on the road. It is difficult to get fresh fruit and veggies which
I normally snack on, as some of it has to be tossed at the border as I cannot
cross with it and it can be very inconvenient to find a store sometimes as I
have to go off the beaten path. So it has become a game to see where I can eat
cheap and healthy at fast food restraunts. At times I am still tent camping it
overnight on my travels. I can get that tent set up in about 5 minutes in the
dark now *L*.

I recently found a fast food restraunt that I did not go to when I lived in
Oregon 9 yrs ago. And I have to currently give kudos to this franchise. It all
started as I have a milkshake a week.... since I am pregnant I may as well enjoy
it and do some 'traditional pregnant chick things', like ice cream (I don't care for pickles).
Well this sign said FRESH BLACKBERRY MILKSHAKES and so I deked into the drive through.

Their mission is: "Serve with Love" and "Fresh, Local, Sustainable."
I got curious so wanted to learn more about them when I found they
use local farmers for their ingredients.. including beef and it has not been frozen.

These are other things on their website:
"If healthy, quick food seems like an oxymoron, you haven't been to our chain of
39 Pacific Northwest quick-service restaurants. Burgers here are made from
pastured vegetarian-fed and antibiotic-free beef. The eggs on our breakfast
biscuits are from cage-free hens that have never been treated with antibiotics.
Salads offer mixed greens topped with smoked salmon and Oregon hazelnuts. Even
desserts and sides rely on seasonal, local ingredients—blackberry milkshakes are
only available in season, as are the hand-prepared buttermilk-battered onion
rings made from Walla Walla sweet onions grown in Washington and Oregon."

The company purchases wind power credits equal to 100 percent of their
electricity use, recycles used canola oil into biodiesel, and offers its hourly
employees an affordable health-care plan. In recent years, changes
they made to reflect their values for the environment became double-digit same
store sales increases in 2006 and 2007. They are clear that conducting business
sustainably is good business.

Employee-Led Recycling & Composting Program
Composting and recycling waste is good business and good for our community–This
company has found the cost to recycle is less than garbage removal fees. No
additional crew or special equipment was required to establish our programs, and
we expect to save a minimum of $100,000 in annual hauling fees when we meet our
diversion goals.

In October 2007, they announced that their pilot Recycling and Composting
Program is being expanded across the entire chain. Their goal is that all 39
restaurants are fully recycling and composting in 2008. Initial waste analysis
found that they can divert 85 percent of their waste out of landfills. Since the
39 restraunts generates 340 tons of waste each month, recycling or composting 85
percent will make a substantial difference for the environment. In the first
five months, 35 of the 39 restaurants recycled everything from plastic to glass
to paper to tin. And 14 of these restaurants are doing both recycling and
composting: all food waste and food-soiled paper and packaging are being turned
into nutrient-rich compost that will return to nourish the soil.

Local Farms and Ranches
They take great care in choosing the farms and ranches with which they partner.
They strive for the highest quality, humane animal care practices and
sustainable land management practices and seek out ingredients that are fresh
and full of flavor.

Seasonal items are one way they leverage the bounty of the region in a
sustainable way. They use foods at their peak flavor, and work to reduce the
amount of transportation needed to move food from one place to the other.

Who are they? Burgersville U.S.A. They will be getting all my fast food
purchases from now on. Great going guys.. maybe some of these other fast food
chains will GET IT!