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My Whole foods love/hate relationship

 Today I dragged the husband to the Whole Foods store closest to us, about 40 minutes away in West Hartford.  I love the store and I don’t.. so much.  What I love?… great produce, healthy meats, all the gluten-free stuff I could possibly be looking for, and a great lunch bar if I’m so inclined.  Lots of flowers and chocolate and natural soaps too.  What I don’t like?  The drive. The prices.  And the general population in that store seems a little…. ooooh, how can I remain politicaly correct here…. snobby. 

Why is that?  well… quite a few customers appear to be in the upper tax brackets, and yes, I’m judging by the cover of those books…and the type of cars out in the parking lot too.  Does that have something to do with it?  I suppose not fair to say.  But I don’t see ANYONE who looks like they  might be struggling financially in that store…again, judging a book by it’s cover, the shame of it.  

Something’s not right with this system tho. Good quality produce, clean, antibiotic and pesticide, gluton, dairy or soy free foods should be affordable and available to everyone, no?  I’m sure the superfood gurus have a list of reasons why it’s more expensive to provide CLEAN food to consumers.  It just seems like it shouldn’t be.  There is LESS stuff in that food, not more. The reason so many low income families eat crappy food is because quite frankly it’s AFFORDABLE.  They should have better choices.

Anyway.. the husband wasn’t impressed.  After we left the store he said…… “you can get all this same stuff at our grocery store, just not as many OPTIONS.  AND.. you are a sucker for eye candy… and there’s lot of it here. “   Well, I beg to differ just a little, but truth be told, he’s atleast partially correct.  Ask me how glad I was that I didn’t cave to the eye candy on this particular day, huh?

Now Trader Joe’s is a whole nother barrel of apples… would you call it the discount version of Whole Foods?    I’m curious… if you’ve had experience with either, what’s your opinion?

The Glamorous Life

 Snow… finally.  This is the scene out my office window early this morning, looking over to my neighbor’s house.  Lots of charm, we’re lucky to see that across the way.
I often hear that I’m living someone’s dream at This Old House…
and I get it… it was always mine, too.
I do feel blessed.
There are some realities that come with the package…
..like mornings like this.. when it’s cold and wet outside
and I’d rather stay under the covers with a nice cuppa joe on the nightstand
and a good book in hand.
The farm doesn’t care, it has things that need attending to…
and attend.. I do.
…sometimes still in my PJ’s.
The chickens didn’t want to come out this morning.
It’s only the second time they’ve seen snow.
First was in October, when it shouldn’t have been there anyway.
By the time I had the horses fed, they figured out the treats
were out in that white stuff, so they better get over it.
This is their oatmeal, they are spoiled for sure…
I trudge up to the barn to grain, hay, water and turn out…
..and the mucking of stalls, ah the joys.
But there is something calming and rhythmic in the carrying out of chores..
and it keeps your weight down. Big plus.
I gained twenty pounds in the two year period where horses were
boarded out and This Old House was being made fit to live in.
I lost those lbs again once farm chores commensed.
I’d rather be doing this than pounding rubber in a noisey gym.
It’s all good 🙂  
These cold mornings are the times I tell myself…
you DO like doing this.. . Really!
Pass the coffee, would ya?  Light, no sugar.

Old School

We ventured over to Parmelee Farm on this coooooold afternoon (I asked for this, didn’t I – just hush) to see the progress on the old Pine Orchard School house reconstruction. The school house was given to the farm by a generous resident and the Historical Society paid to have it moved to it’s current site, where it is in the process of being rebuilt.  Originally constructed in 1853 by W. E. Dickinson, Pine Orchard was one of several one-room school houses in the area, operating with approx. 15 students per school until 1948, when all were deemed economically unsound and were closed and sold as private property.

Pine Orchard School in 1948

Pine Orchard Class of 1941

    Excerpt by town historian Tom Lentz–  The schools then, as now, accounted for a major portion of the town budget. In 1901/1902, the expenses for the Pine Orchard School were $282.80. Wood, kindling, etc. accounted for $10.00, furniture and labor for $55.80, and teacher’s wages for the remainder. The total expenses for all the schools was $2,232.99 amounting to 45.3% of the total town budget of $4,928.07.

Expenses increased in the following years although the number of students did not change significantly. The expenses for the Pine Orchard School in 1921/1922 were as follows:

C. H. French, labor 3.50
L. D. Parmelee, labor 1.25
lock, sash bolts, and repairs on clock 6.10
Martha Buhrer, teacher’s wages 1,000.00
C. H. French, fuel 28.00
Francis Catala, kindling fires 2.50
Mrs. T. B. Perkins, clock, halyards and broom 4.05
Total 1,045.40

Thanks to the restorative collaboration of many, Pine Orchard School House lives again…