Making Lemonade

12 days left in New York

2008-08-26T18:23:00.003-06:00

... and then another installment of "The Great Schlep". Phil and I have started the piles of stuff to take. We haven't yet decided whether or not one of us will haul a trailer.

Part of me is thrilled, and part of me has a long list of New York Stuff I haven't done yet. C'est la vie.

August 22

2008-08-22T14:58:00.003-06:00

Hi folks,
The weekend ahead looks great weather-wise, so we're ready for a good work-week. It will be 4th weekend, the theme is Magic and Mystery. this could be a fun theme, but instead it appears to be amateur bands-dressed-like-Harry-Potter weekend ... a couple of years after the Harry Potter craze no less.

But rather than be negative, I'll tell you about the Good Stuff happening. I've heard from most of my core employees at Queen's Pantry, so that is lining up well. I'm on day 18 of a High Raw diet, which means I'm eating no animal products, and every day for 18 days so far, I've consumed 90% or more raw food. I don't have a lot of time for playing in the kitchen during our work-season, so I've been eating a lot of fruit. But what a time to be eating fruit! Local peaches are Soooooooo good.

Phil and I bought shares in a local farm (near TRF) for the 3 months that we live in the area. We'll get weekly shares of whatever came due that week. I'm very excited.

Off to continue finding the top of my desk before the weekend.

Catch Up

2008-08-15T06:23:00.002-06:00

Lessee ....
Dolly missed our house, but took down one avocado tree. Our neighbors Jenn and Scott lost a big tree and 2 cars, but had good insurance. They're swamped with the post-hurricane rebuild of area restaurants, so this will end up being a very good year for their business.

Phil and I are in New York, at the New York Renaissance Faire. Weather has been iffy each of our 2 weekends so far, but we're doing well. The weather has been gorgeous in-between ... so we are enjoying the opportunity to live in the woods in the summertime.

I'm on day 11 of eating mostly raw food, and I'm feeling AMAZING. My energy level is very high, and it gives me an easy way to say "No thank you" to those yummy fresh cut french fries that Phil sells on the weekends. Besides, the summer bounty of fruit and veggies is so fabulous, it's an easy shift.

That's the update for now ... back to work I go ...

California on the Solstice

2008-07-03T09:26:00.003-06:00

I went to California for a week … delightful and beautiful, and magical all in one whirlwind trip. I went to see a wedding, and to help those I love pull it together. Travis and Hannah Alvarez were married in Butano State Park, under the Redwoods. For the parents (who were theatre producers) … there was a long list of “things that could go wrong” but the couple knew that everything would be “Good and Right, and Beautiful”. Travis and Hannah were correct.

I include a photo that I took at the wedding, and the caption that Travis attached to it on his MySpace page:

"Since the invention of the kiss there have been five kisses that were rated the most passionate and pure. This one left them all behind."

Opening weekend, GARF 2008

2008-04-15T19:05:00.003-06:00

It was cold, and breezy, but lots of old friends came to visit, and we made money. After all, that *is* why we do this crazy job, isn't it???

Phil was in town for opening, and we had a few routine medical visits. He's flown back to Houston now, and it's girl-time here in Atlanta. I just spent an evening with Kelly and Kristen, and a bottle of wine, so I've not had time to begin to miss Phil yet.

The medical visits were uneventful, except for the small thing where I tell myself I'm visiting the dermatologist in order to get Phil there, but *I'm* the person that ends up getting moles sliced off. I currently have a chunk cut out of my big toe. He just had a couple of sun spots.

Houston to Atlanta

2008-03-31T19:15:00.003-06:00

It's moving week (I should make up some name for this since it happens 4 times a year). I'm moving from our place near Houston, to my cute little apartment at the Georgia Renaissance Festival. I'm ready ... it's 80 degrees at 8pm here, which makes packing a chore.

But, I get to move to another one of my playhouses, and set up camp for 2 months. I'll do a bit of travel within that 2 months, (the TRF food vendors annual meeting happens in early May) ... but for the most part I'm working at the Renaissance Festival, and living in Rapunzel's Tower until the first weekend in June; (at which point it will be too hot there, and we'll head north to NY for the summer months).

So I'm driving Tuesday and Wednesday (this is NOT an April Fool's joke).

Phil flies in on the weekend, and we'll attend the great Dessert Expo on the following Monday and Tuesday.

In defense of my waistline,
I will attempt to run several miles in order to prepare for the caloric onslaught.

NYC visit

2008-03-08T16:48:00.002-06:00

Phil and I are in NYC today. We're attending a Food Show at the Javits Center. We were already scheduled to attend the Great Dessert Expo in Atlanta, and the Fancy Food Show here in late June, but it was suggested that all food vendors at TRF attend this show ... so here we are.

We've taken stairs whenever possible, and if the weather breaks we'll get a lot more walking in, but there's no getting around the fact that we're gonna have to consume about a billion calories to make this trip worth it. I expect to blog about the show on the Queen's Pantry blog.

Leap Day

2008-02-29T18:45:00.005-06:00

I've decided that today is a special holiday. I get to count this as an extra day, and I'll just do whatever I darn well please with it.

Which, translated, means: "I don't feel like packing up to leave my winter home yet."

Naught to be done about it, our work season begins. Phil is already in Todd Mission, and I'll join him this weekend ... if I ever get the van packed. We're constructing another fruit booth at TRF, and we'll fly to NYC for a food show next week. All of this means that the lounging season has ended. No more walking outside to pick a grapefruit for breakfast every day.

Usually about this time Phil and I start saying that next year, we're going to get here earlier, and leave later ... but it doesn't tend to work out that way. We tend to be drawn to where our projects are. Our current plan is to create winter projects here. We'd both like to make the house more energy efficient, and we really dislike the weird carport-closed-in-to-be-a-porch thing. So the plan for next year is to redesign the porch to follow the lines of the dormer above, put on metal roofing, and maybe get half of the windows replaced with more efficient models. Oh, and a solar batch heater for water.

The long-term plans involve wrapping the house with rigid foam insulation, then lathing and stuccoing to make the house not only super-insulated, but to also help it fit in culturally with the local architecture. All of the windows will have to be replaced before that can happen, so I don't have a time-frame for it ... other than the idea that Phil and I would both like to have these things done before we are thinking about retirement.

I'll be sure and let you know about any changes.

Bikes on the Beach

2008-02-09T20:02:00.000-06:00

No, it wasn't a biker fest ... it was Phil and I on a GORGEOUS day off.

When we're in LaFeria, we live about 1 hour from South Padre Island. I guess I'd never gone when the weather was perfect, because it didn't seem worth the drive. I mean, I know it's beautiful out there, but the drive is kinda boring, and our yard is so fabulous ... why leave?

Today however, it was 85, with just the slightest onshore breeze. Also, while it is off-season, it was the weekend, so there was some good people-watching to be had, without having to deal with crowds. I don't know if SPI is ever *really* crowded, but we had no problem biking along the firm part of the beach, right at the edge of the receding tide.

We biked for an hour, then ate a nice lunch, then biked for another hour before coming home. It was a great way to spend the day, and we got good exercise out of it as well.

I have a great life.

Viral ickiness

2008-01-28T18:44:00.000-06:00

So my computer caught something icky ... WAYYY icky. Malware called "Virtumonde" completely took over my computer, and spyware couldn't cleanse it because the program had embedded itself in my invisible startup files and would reload itself.

I went to the folks at Spybot, which is one of the most respected 'Free' spyware scanners out there. They have forums, and a list of programs to run so that the experts can see into the parts of your computer that need to be analyzed. I was able to post my symptoms and a malware removal expert got back to me. It took days. really.

For the geeky among you, you can look at the extent of the removal process here:
Rhonni's malware removal adventure

At the top of the page you can get back to the Safer Networking Forums and/or the Spybot Search and Destroy main page.

Some Angel named Shaba, from Finland held my hand through the entire process.

So that I'm not misinforming anyone, I caught the malware by having my firewall disabled by a "helpful sort" of a computer person to whom I had complained of not being able to access any video or flash. (I thought I had a problem with my video card.) He informed me that my firewalls were malfunctioning, and disabled all of them. I should have had only one running, but apparently I had not checked a little box somewhere. He disabled them all, which allowed me to access flash ... and allowed malware to access my computer.

At the end of the malware removal process, Shaba had me set up several things (Free) that will protect me from future attacks.

Truthfully, I cannot say enough wonderful things about the help that I was provided. I highly recommend Spybot.

I do still have to go in and clean up some registry ailments in MS Office that were caused by the Virtumonde, but I'm not ready to deal with it just yet.

Eggplant Chili

2007-12-15T19:30:00.000-06:00

I'm in Bowie, MD.
Our good friends Sandy and Payter were due to add a 4th to their brood. I was honored to be invited to stay with them for a couple of weeks and be the extra set of hands in the household. I provided the same service for sibling #3, three years ago. #3 was a few days late, but #4 was more than a week late. In both cases, I made homemade eggplant chili for Sandy, and labor began a few hours later.
We had heard a radio piece about an Indian restaurant that was famous for kick-starting labor with its spicy eggplant dishes. They included cushy chairs for Momma, and a 36 hour labor begins or your money back guarantee on dinner. Apparently due to the womb-like shape of an eggplant, it has long been associated with labor inducing qualities.
I'm not a shabby cook, so I took on the challenge. Now that I'm 2 for 2, I figure I should share the recipe.

Eggplant Chili

(You'll need a large pot with a good-fitting lid)

5 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. Olive Oil
Saute Garlic in olive oil.

4 to 5 cups diced eggplant (3/4 inch cubes)
Add to oil and garlic. Add a half cup of water and steam (put the lid on), while opening cans.

3 cans tomato sauce
1 large can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1.5 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp dry mustard
2 tsp granulated garlic
1 half teaspoon of oregano
Add all of these to the pot, and simmer for about an hour.

1 box, or half a bag of frozen spinach.
Add to pot, and cook until spinach is warmed through.

Salt and Pepper to taste.

We served it over long grain brown rice.

Truth be told, it was better the second day ... and I never really measure any spices.

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-11-26T23:18:00.000-06:00

Well, for the first time ever, the Texas Renaissance Festival was open for a 3-day weekend, beginning with "Black Friday" ... the day after Thanksgiving. On Thursday, the neighborhood of Renaissance professionals was a feast of feasts!!!

Potlucks started on Tuesday, with the "Thanksgiving Rehearsal Dinner". On Wednesday, some 20-odd-year Renaissance Veterans had a feast to celebrate their retirements, and on Thursday we were invited to no less than 4 different food events. We handed over the reins of the Yellow House Restaurant, and *that* feast fed about 30 people. I still think the best part was the 3 "named" turkeys (I think they were "Rosemary", "Ginger" and "Sue Ellen"), and the 20-somethings with cell phones on, calling their Moms for cooking advice. Phil and I designed a really fun kitchen there, with 2 island work-spaces, 2 ovens, and a 6-burner commercial stove ... it *screams* for cooking parties. For the rest of the week, we had people coming up and thanking us for letting them play there. The Yellow House fulfilled it's alternative function of "Community Center" quite well.

As Renaissance professionals, we're pretty good at building "family" wherever we happen to be planted, but the American Thanksgiving has been interpreted to be the ultimate in biological family gatherings. Consequently some of my working community had a hard time with the new festival schedule. However, another friend mentioned that "our" version of Thanksgiving is much more like the experience that the settlers had, in that they were people separated from their extended biological families, who were celebrating the idea of creating new families and homes in the new world. With that thought, and full bellies, we went into the 3-day weekend.

Weather did not cooperate, but this *is* a weather game we play, and sometimes you don't get the best hand. Even *with* a terrible forecast, the festival's weekend attendance was over 38,000 people. This bodes well for future Celtic Christmas weekends, and I'm sure that the Thanksgiving Potluck Progressive Dinner will only get better as well.

It's all good!

2007-11-14T08:38:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I'm light years behind on blogging, but that is because I have the best life imaginable, and my busy season really is ... busy that is.

Weekend #6 of the Texas Renaissance Festival ... up through weekend #5, the festival attendance was up about 34%, and due to changes in our menu line and signage, we're up around 50%.

I can hardly look up this time of year, either because I'm putting out fires and trying to make things work, or because I have to keep going to the bank to make deposits. This year we're making deposits. Renaissance Festivals are mostly a weather gamble, and it's been a warm and dry fall in the Houston area.

I have an incredible crew, that is all about being both efficient AND fun ... I really meant it when I said it was all good.

Checking in ...

2007-08-16T07:37:00.000-06:00

For those of you familiar with our schedule, it's madness about now. We've got 12 locations at the New York Renaissance Faire.

We're headed into weekend #3 of 8. This is traditionally when the traffic begins to pick up, if the weather is good. The forecast for the upcoming weekend is gorgeous.

After New York, we have 8 weekends of The Texas Renaissance Festival. We've got a major food booth, a fruit shop, a full-hook-up campground, games, and a restaurant there. There are 13 days between the two shows, but that is not enough to get a big show open. What this means is that Phil and I get NY open together, and I get all of the employees in place and trained. Then right after Labor Day (our biggest weekend here), I drive to Houston to begin opening all of our businesses there. Phil stays at the New York Faire to run all of our NY businesses. We have our 5th wheel trailer set up at NY permanently, and an apartment at the Houston show, so it's relatively easy for us to be in 2 places at once.

Phil closes up the NY faire, and joins me at TRF just before opening day.

While this may seem a bit extreme, it has the hidden blessing of allowing us to make our year's income in about 5 months of intense work.
Nice work if you can get it ...

Back to work I go!

A gorgeous day.

2007-06-23T16:30:00.000-06:00

Phil and I took a lovely day off together. We’re in NY, so today we drove upstate for an afternoon of sightseeing. There is always research, and most often food research involved in our outings, and today was no different. We started our day with breakfast at Caffe Macciatto in Newburgh. It’s on the corner of Washington and Liberty streets, across from the Washington’s Headquarters National Monument. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous foods, and that’s not simply because we know the woman who makes her chocolates. It’s been a long time since I had difficulty making a decision when looking at a menu. It’s one of those … I’ll have to get back here to try XYZ kind of places. Phil had a banana and Nutella crepe, and I had a grilled vegetable sandwich, served with the lightest, barely sweet dressing over bitter greens.

We then crossed the Hudson, and headed north along Route 9. In Hyde Park, we stopped at the weekly farmer’s market … (that would be the one that is ¼ mile from the Culinary Institute of America). It was a small market, with all the right stuff, two wineries, three bakeries, three fresh vegetable growers, and organic options in all categories. It felt as though the weak had been weeded out … and only beautiful, high-quality food remained.

Since we have the bakery at the Texas Renaissance Festival, we’re always experimenting, and discussing recipes with bakers. The bakers at this market were no different. There was another interesting take on a “Breakfast Cookie”. I like the concept, but as they tend to be very healthy versions of a cookie, it could simply be that they are more along my line of food preferences, rather than being “The next big thang” in cookies.

Next we reached our stated goal of the Crafts at Rhinebeck show. Beautiful crafts. If you’ve ever been to an American Crafts Council Show, well, this is where they got their start. We ran into our favorite potter, John Fulwood. We don’t do any shows together anymore, but we did for several years, more than 10 years ago. We bought a colander and a lovely teacup … and were able to catch up with each other a bit. If you want to see his work, it’s at www.kissimmeeriverpottery.com He has a studio, and classes, if you are in the central New Jersey area. Honestly, we have lived on a crafts circuit for 17 years, and his is still our favorite pottery ANYWHERE.

Tomorrow the plan is to go into NYC for a festival in Gramercy Park. It’s another research trip, but we’ll also get to visit our friend Catherine at her shop “The Community Bookstore” in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

2007-04-25T07:03:00.000-06:00

I'm settled in in my spring digs ... I have an apartment above Rapunzel's Hairbraiding shop at the Georgia Renaissance Festival. This spring I built a kitchen out back ... it's about 8' x 10', but half of it is a tool-shed. Kelly is going to make curtains to hide the clutter underneath the counter I built. Here's a picture of the front of the shop. Upstairs is about 12x20 , with a 12x12 sleeping loft that is tall enough for me to stand in. I keep my closet and bed space in the loft, and the main part of the room is office and seating.

I've got bigger signage on the shop now, but no pics of it.

Here is a pic of the ugly, or not-so-ugly backside of a Renaissance booth. My little kitchen, and at the very edge (right) of the photo is the bathroom ... yes, it's 2 flights of stairs between my bed and my bathroom. I get pretty good exercise just dealing with the stairs multiple times each day. The 2 blue tanks on the shelf hold my wash-water. I boil it on the stove for hot water. The door at the top of the stairs leads into my apartment. Once it begins to get warm, I put up a canvas tarp to shade the back area from the morning sun.

As for the inside of the kitchen (and the counter I built, as well as the stove I hooked up (safely ... no gas leaks!) ...

I just wanted to give you a pic of my world today.

We get by with a little help from our friends.

2007-03-02T19:41:00.000-06:00

Well, the house is clean (I mean REALLY clean), and I'm still sorting and throwing out unnecessary items that have been cluttering my office. I have to get tax info to the accountant this week, and thus it seems, I am forced to go through all of the stray paperwork in order to find the 7 pieces of paper that were stacked on the corner of my desk when we left a month ago.

It's all for the best. I am far too capable of putting a lid on a box of old paperwork and calling it a footstool. Now, inspired by the efforts of friends who helped get the dust and disarray under control, I'm continuing the clearing efforts.

A couple of comments ...
1) I had the most beautiful wedding EVER! I just got the opportunity to revisit it, and the incredible efforts of our friends, when I sat to dust off the individual pictures that had been dumped out of their box.
2) If you buy a set of empowerment cards, like Louise L. Hay's "Power Thought Cards", then in the event your home gets vandalized; you are interrupted by positive input, as you come across another place where one of these cards has been flung.

Those of you that were at our wedding will remember Doloris the Guacamole Goddess; the woman who made the never-empty punch-bowls full of guacamole. She came out for several days, and where I had been chasing dust from room to room, she took no prisoners. She swept and mopped door jambs, window frames, and walls. She folded carpets over and vacuumed the undersides. I asked her how she knew to mop the walls. I would not have thought of mopping the walls until I'd chased the dust around the house a couple more times. She said (with the tone of "Silly Rabbit, Trix are for kids!"), "Rhonni, I grew up in Mexico ... we *know* about dust."

So I wanted to let you all know that everything is coming back together, and while the deep clean and changing all of our bank accounts was not on the schedule ... I'm making the best of the direction in which I've been pointed. More sorting is on the schedule for tomorrow. It gets cold again tomorrow night (43 degrees), so we'll build a fire in the fireplace and destroy all of the old checkbooks etc.

my office

2007-02-21T20:24:00.000-06:00

just a couple of pics of my office ... truth is, this is mostly stuff I brought home from my scattered regional offices to file and put away.

Ummm, I hadn't done that yet.

c'est la vie

2007-02-21T19:35:00.000-06:00

I was having a discussion with a wise friend of mine about trademark infringement. (This was several years ago.) She gave me some advice that I use a lot. I had asked, "What do you do when someone else is using your mark?" She said, "It's really a rather Zen matter of seeing the vase already broken. Enjoy the vase in the Now."

I've used this advice in reference to my home, which I walk away from for months on end. The "Vase already broken" involved gang-style graffiti, or fire. So when I got the call Thursday that our home had been vandalized ... it was not as painful as it could have been.

We figured out that it had probably been a group of kids, due to the level of sophistication involved (no credit card charges, the bulldozer and mower are still here, and they tried to start my van with a house key that they found.) It appears that they took us for Winter Texans (which we are in a way), and expected to come back over time and collect things of value. The only things missing are the TV, DVD player, and a radio. The gold-plated silverware Mom gave me was out on the counter, and the multi-function fax and printer are still here, as well as the wireless router. A couple of windows are broken.
My van is in pretty bad shape; 1 broken window, a smashed VHS player, they beat on my dash for awhile, and opened a 5 gallon bucket of 90 weight gear oil inside. Phil had already tossed out there that if the van needs too much work, we'll shop for another one ... so that took some of the edge off. They did not find the 10 cd changer under the back seat, so the music is still there (bonus!)
As for what we found today when we got home ... it's pretty much pointless vandalism. Fire extinguisher dust covers every room (except our bedroom, because our neighbors ROCK!!! and they came over to clean before we got here.) Dressers emptied and drawers smashed ... the office is an ocean of paperwork.
LaFeria's Finest called me asking for a description of the TV screen in the ceiling of my van. I gave it to them. Then they called again to ask for a description of our bikes. I described Phil's Giant Bike (both in name and in size), and mentioned that my bike shop had record of the serial #. They told me they have Phil's bike, and I should come in when I get back to town. They had seen a young man walking down the street with my (van's) TV screen in his hand, and took him in for questioning. When they went to his house, Phil's bike was there.

The hidden blessing? (Well that *IS* the point of this blog after all) ... The untouched file cabinets! I have been expecting to have to refile 7 years worth of data, and the file cabinets are untouched. I'm still changing all of our banking and credit card accounts, which is rather a pain in the ass, but c'est la vie.

I've tried to post more than one pic, and an unable to do so. Phil and I will hit the clean-up project hard in the morning. I'm supposed to go to the police station to pick up Phil's bike and give a list of the things that are missing. I'll update later.
Rhonni

Todd Mission Temporarilly

2007-02-05T17:59:00.000-06:00

We're in Todd Mission for a couple of weeks (For info on where we stay, see the September posts).

We're attending a big food show tomorrow, to work on new food items for TRF, as well as improving the quality of some of our existing items. Then we're working on paint and signage for a couple of weeks, before we spend Feb 15-19 selling chocolate covered strawberries at Mardi Gras in Port Arthur, TX. I wasn't very excited about Mardi Gras, but I understand that there will be some very good music happening there. This helps ... a lot.

If we can knock out the projects here, it will mean we can stay a bit later at our grove when we return. In any case we have to get all of the construction and signage projects done by April 1st, so I have my motivation to get the signage done.

The sun is shining (well setting actually, but it shone today, and will shine most of this week), so it's good painting weather.

I'm still working on the 3 year budget for the Lemonade League ... it's a difficult project.

The Lemonade League Activities Statement v1.0

2007-01-25T21:00:00.000-06:00

The form necessary for non-profit tax-free status with the IRS is the 501c3. We have a lawyer helping us with it, but that doesn't mean there's no homework. The following is version 1 of our Activities Statement. Our lawyer will let me know how I need to change it.

Brother Lemonade Breast Cancer Initiative
DBA: The Lemonade League

Mission Statement:

In the midst of the frightening, isolating world of breast cancer detection and treatment, The Lemonade League cultivates clarity, compassion, connection, and courage, and serves solutions with fresh new twists.

We create a world in which personal connections and actions have created the space for conversations in and around breast cancer; increasing survivorship by increasing the chances of early detection and treatment.

Nationwide we serve the general population by providing training and information that encourages regular and more effective exams thereby increasing early detection and treatment. We also serve the breast cancer patient population by providing education and support during and after treatment. We serve health care professionals by supplying training and resources to supplement patient care.

Primary Activities:
Our training services include:
“Squeeze Your Own” exam classes provide instruction for couples and individuals, in an interactive breast exam technique. This opens the dialogue about breast cancer whether or not there is ever a diagnosis in their life.
“Compassionate Communication” classes train individuals and medical providers in identifying the underlying emotional needs of those touched by breast cancer.
“Team Building” classes and materials help friends and family create a support network around a recently diagnosed individual, in order to help that person move forward with his or her treatment.

Since 2004, we have been providing the “Squeeze Your Own” class to private groups, and at music festivals. Our Lemonade League Teambuilding Tips have been spreading by word-of-mouth, as people who were helped with organization parties, have then hosted parties for others who have been diagnosed.
These training services combine to be approximately 60% of the organization’s purpose.

Secondary Activities:
We provide support services and educational materials as sustenance for our training programs. The support services include: meetings, groups, forums, events, and locations for same. The educational materials involve prevention information, detection information, team building leaflets; shower card art program, inspirational card decks, as well as clothing and gifts which help publicize the breast cancer issues and related training(s) we present. These combine to represent 30% of our purpose.

Tertiary Activities:
Info and Resource Services (library, database, hotline, info-line, newsletter, volunteer network, and website) The League avoids repeating the efforts of others and tries instead to compile and link to existing resources where it fits with our vision and mission. We believe 10% of our efforts are expressed here.

Paradise 2007

2007-01-04T10:06:00.000-06:00

Well we are home in LaFeria. We drove down on New Year's Day, and I'm still cleaning the dust-critters from the corners, but all-in-all my house is still wonderful. Phil and I had organic grapefruit for breakfast, and we garnished our chile-hot veggie soup with organic avocados last night.

I don't think I ever thought of myself as a person who would have a "Vacation Home" but in reality that's what I have. We spend a few months of winter here, and pick away at pet projects ... tweaking this into what will be our retirement home. I call it "Home" and keep a permanent address here, but the truth is that I live where I work, so this is my retirement/vacation home.

I'm in vacation mode now. There are a few office projects to attend to, but I'm enjoying lounging around with Phil. We have a TV here. It sucks our attention away, so we don't carry one while on the road. Consequently we've spent the last 2 evenings trying to get caught up on the Food Network, and Discovery channels. I do not know whether or not this is a good thing.

The grove is doing well. We were late in getting here, so the tangerines and Meyer lemons are gone, but there are still avocados and grapefruit. We have a lovely blanket of grass choking out any weeds, so it's very lush out there. It means we have to use more compost, but we prefer the carpet grass to the dusty fresh-tilled option.

The 3 acre grove is still a magical place for us. Since we don't use it as a commercial crop, we don't chase wildlife out of it. We've still got Chacalacas and a small owl out there. Green Jays and small parakeets fly through every morning, and there is evidence of those opossums near the back of the grove. They like avocados. A couple of winters ago, it was war ... live traps and trips to the wildlife corridor as I tried to get more avocados than the opossums. This year it seems to be less worrisome. So far.

Oh, this is supposed to be a vacation.

2006-12-30T11:07:00.000-06:00

Well,
it IS a vacation of sorts. I mean ... I'm working on enjoyable things. Phil and I are rethinking the menu of the TRF shop, and research involves touring and eating at Bakeries mostly.

The booth will get a face-lift, so as to create an impression of being 3 separate shops in order to control where people order things. That may not make sense to some of you, but if your shop is 50 feet wide, and ice cream sundaes are made on one end of the kitchen, it's terribly inefficient if the server at the other end of the shop sells one. Consider that we serve thousands of people in a day, and the inefficiencies are more pronounced.

So, the booth becomes 3 booths on the outside. I'm still stuck for the names for the sections. "Just Desserts" is an easy one, then we have the bakery section, and a lunchy-sandwichy section. (I don't even have any good working titles other than "Bake Sale" and "Lunch Lady Land" or "Lunch Line". Lunch in the name doesn't really work because we sell Bagel sandwiches there in the morning. Ack ... At least I have a couple of months before the real deadline.(Input is appreciated!)

We put two bakery cases into the front counter. Renaissance Festival food sales are strange in that in order to be somewhat authentic to the timeframe, most of the workings of a kitchen are hidden. Stainless tables are still preferred by the health department, but not by the Festival Management. Consequently, all of the food is created inside a kitchen, and passed through a shelf-like hole in the wall to the server. Short of having fake-food on the counter for display, people only know what a food item looks like as it's walking away in someone else's hand. It was a pleasant surprise to be given permission for the bakery cases.

Other inefficiencies were more subtle. There was no dry storage space to speak of, and yet there was a cluttered little 8' wide shed space in between the 2 walk-in freezers. The 2 compressors were there, so you couldn't really do much with the space. Phil (always thinking) moved one walk-in 6', and put the 2 compressors in line with one another, to create a 12 x 12 dry storage space. (My Hero!). An organized dry storage space means tighter inventory control, which is the only real cash double-check available in a world without cash registers. I have someone working on a database program for our product line. It will cut some of the math out of the process, but there will always be a lot of counting involved.

Today we were trying to find a location for an herb planter near the front of the booth. I want to plant rosemary, as we intend to sell rosemary bread. Post Christmas there are always deals on Christmas-tree shaped rosemary plants, so I bought 4 big ones yesterday. Here in the Houston area they are a no-effort hedge, so I won't have to worry about tending them. I use the herb too much to worry about remembering to prune them, so it's perfect.

We're heading to our house on Jan 1st, to spend a month eating organic Grapefruit and Avocados. We'll still be thinking about the TRF booth, but we don't really know what direction or shop will take until we get approval for our new items. We're trusting that our competitors are not threatened by an expansion of the bakery line (Hey, I'm not asking for Turkey Legs or Funnel Cakes so it should be OK.) The "Food Meeting" is this spring, and all of the food vendors present their menus and prices to each other for approval. It promises to be interesting.

2006-09-25T19:21:00.000-06:00

I've knocked out most of the list. In fact, I've had to let workers go on to other projects with other people, as we're so close to being compltely done that I am unable to rattle off a ToDo list for anyone.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) we make Scotch Eggs. While it's not a food item I would eat myself, it IS a signature item of the new shoppe, and requires 2 days of prepwork. For those of you that don't know, a Scotch Egg is a boiled egg, wrapped in breakfast sausage, breaded, and fried. We'll fry them on the show day, but building them takes 2 days, in order to let them "set-up" enough to get breading to stick to the sausage.

I've dealt with some of the overwhelming beige-ness of the apartment by painting the walls of the main room. These photos show you some before and after. The loft stairs meet our Ren-construction requirement for steep/dangerous stairway. Fortunately we won't have to use them much. The ceiling is only at 5', so that's a guest room. (Naturally, guests must sign a waiver about the stairs first.LOL)

The flip side of this earthy plum wall is a color called dry sage. A neutral green that provides color, without being overwhelming. Both of the colors went well with the "Antique White" that we left visible on the trim, cabinets, and ceiling. All in all, it was an easy, cheap fix. We'll see how long I can stand the flooring.

The room is still a little junky from the move. I can happily say that the pile of unsorted crap is much smaller than it was earlier this week. It may be as small as 3 or 4 boxes, but as they are boxes that were dumped onto the floor, it's still pretty messy.

Phil drove out from the New York Renaissance Faire today in mid-afternoon. He will get here Wednesday evening at the earliest as I figure it. He's bringing some equipment and supplies for the new shop, but we should have plenty of time for installing them, as all the signs are hung save 1, and the prep will be done by then as well.

It's all good.

I'm in Texas

2006-09-18T18:30:00.000-06:00

Todd Mission, Texas to be exact.
I'm at the Texas Renaissance Festival, getting our various businesses open, and moving into our new digs, which came as a bonus with the recent purchase of a food booth.

I've purchase 2 homes so far in my life, both of them sight-unseen. Both of them were lived in by very sweet people in their 70s. What is it about off-white walls and beige carpet? There seems to be a theme. I took down the pink and teal ruffled curtains within 15 minutes of my arrival, and draped some saris around, but it will be a longer process to make it feel like home.

The space is large by ren-home standards. There is a loft over the kitchen and bath. There are two small bedrooms (one will become a large closet, I think). We also have a big front porch balcony. I'm limited to furnishings which fit the period, but I think over time I'll come up with a nice space to sit and have tea.

There is something exceptionally sloppy about moving less than a mile. Boxes are not folded shut or labeled. Tubs are sometimes brought in, dumped in the appropriate room, then refilled shortly thereafter with another trip from the former digs. I've reused the same 5 boxes 4 times this week. I'm almost done, but since I'm also overseeing the set-up of 5 businesses, household chores are near the bottom of the list.

I did make a detour by IKEA to purchase a kitchen table and chairs, but currently it's just another flat surface on which to set things.

I took some photos to try and communicate the overwhelming beige-ness of it all, but I think that will wait for another post. The photo at the top of this post is a pic of the new booth, so you can see the front porch area, and get an idea of the size of it. The upper story is full-size, unlike some of the shops we've built where the upper story was just a facade. That black doorway that you see on the upstairs has an opening that is 6'6" tall, so Phil barely has to duck when going out onto the porch.

As for the business end of things, everyone here has been incredibly helpful, and I have a great crew helping me to get open. If I can just shut off the list in my brain in order to get some sleep, it will all be even more fabulous.

NYC momentum

2006-08-27T17:26:00.000-06:00

I don't know what it is about this part of the country that kicks up my momentum for making things happen.

Last week we had a meeting of the formative Board of Directors for the Brother Lemonade Breast Cancer Initiative. We finalized our very vivid Pantone-specific colors for our logo, and decided that our branding would focus on a dba of "The Lemonade League", as it was far more understandable than the name of our organization.

We also nailed down the Mission Statement to the following:

In the midst of the frightening, isolating world of breast cancer detection and treatment, The Lemonade League cultivates clarity, compassion, connection,and courage; and serves solutions with fresh, new twists.

Meanwhile, Phil and I have gone ahead with the purchase of the last independent food booth at the Texas Renaissance Festival. The Queen's Pantry is the first food shop on the right as one enters the festival. The shop has long-standing and reliable employees, many of whom are planning to return. I'm still waiting to speak with a few of them.

I'll drive out of New York on the 5th of September to be able to meet my first delivery at he festival; which is scheduled for September 9th. Some of the returning employees have been there for 12 and 14 years, so I'll have some good help getting things figured out. I'm responsible for the wedding cakes for the weddings scheduled at the Texas Renaissance Festival. Currently I do not have to bake for opening weekend, but I have to make 14 cakes for the second weekend.

I know it sounds as though we're biting off a lot here, but the long-term picture is one of us making our money in a very intense 5 months, which leaves time for the things that are more imortant to us, like The Lemonade League, Habitat for Humanity, and growing organic avocados.

Opening Weekend, New York

2006-08-09T19:12:00.000-06:00

Opening Weekend went well.

I think I'll offer the Brother Lemonade Couples Exam Class this Saturday at NYRF. I can teach it in the hairbraiding booth if I can get permission to have folks onsite after dark. (I have lights, but I'll have to get clearance from Security.)

Next week I'll offer it on Friday night, which shouldn't be as tough. For those of you that don't know, There are probably 70 people here during the week, and 350 people on the weekends. Consequently I'd be able to reach a lot more people on the weekend; even if it means adding on to what is already a 14 hour day.

The PR guy here at NYRF wants to do a tie-in with the Brother Lemonade Breast Cancer Initiative, which will get press for both the organization and the faire. We're supposed to have a meeting/brainstorm session tomorrow.

Everyone I speak to wants to be involved in some way. A couple of shop-owners have asked for rack-cards of info to put in their shops. I'll have something together for them by this upcoming weekend.

Busy ...

2006-08-02T15:36:00.000-06:00

This is a very busy week. Phil and I are working on opening our shops at the New York Renaissance Faire. It's been our biggest show for a few years and consequently a pretty good chunk of our yearly income.
We have Hairbraiding, Henna, Tassel Tresses, Shaved Ice, Stone Roses, Cinnamon Almonds and two food shops, Magellan's Last Stand, and Fool's Pantry. Magellan's has a very extensive product list, and Fool's Pantry (the new one) basically only offers Funnel Cakes and Apple Fritters. Any new shop needs extra attention, so Phil has been playing with recipes and feeding people apple fritters so that the two of us are not too tempted.

I guess this is a bit of an apology for the emails and phone calls I haven't answered this week.

I promise I will be a person as soon as I have all of the paperwork done on Monday.

Grassroots Report

2006-07-24T10:06:00.000-06:00

This weekend was interesting and wonderful. I was available for 3 hours, on four consecutive days to teach our “Couples’ Exam Class”. If I were to numerate the amount of people I taught, it would not appear to have been a very successful weekend. However, if I were to instead talk about the depth of gratitude I received; it was a resounding success.
We realized early on that couples did not approach the Healing Arts Tent very often. It was more like people went shopping for an individual experience there. So, we made a flyer, and Luella walked up to couples throughout the festival.
The flyer says “Learn a New Position” on one side; and on the other side it has a list of the 11 things to watch for in a visual exam. She’d spend about 30 seconds to a minute telling them what we were doing, and where. With this we were getting the message out, without people having to commit to a class. They left with information, and at least the concept that the monthly exam could be a joint endeavor. By Sunday we had people coming to the Healing Arts Tent if only to tell me that they were excited about the work we were doing.
Another breakthrough that occurred was that I developed a talk for single people. I can easily tell women how to do this more effective exam, and I just mention the reasons that we like to teach couples. I also taught a couple of men, by showing them the three levels of pressure for the finger-pads, on the backs of their own hands. With some data about which areas need the most attention, a tactile aid of rock salt for what a suspicious lump feels like, and a list of what to look for in a visual exam, these guys were empowered to help keep their partners healthy.
(I must say, they all still want a T-shirt that announces somehow that they know the Brother Lemonade Couples Exam System.)

As for the funny story of the weekend … Steven was doing Reiki (Which is an energy exchange healing system.) on someone, and a woman in white was just outside the tent watching him. She then came in and stood right next to him and kind-of lurked over his shoulder. She whispered to him … “raise your hands ½ centimeter.” He did, although he noticed no change in the process he was involved in. She then whispered one of two things; Steven is uncertain. She either said “Your Spirit Guide is and Indian.” OR “Your Spirit Guide is an Idiot.”
She came by a few more times over the weekend, but had no more messages to deliver.

The Barn

2006-07-21T09:40:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was our first day at the Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance. The Healing Arts Tent is a casual set-up, where people volunteer their services; be they massage, Reiki, acupuncture, or our couples exam class.

However, I’m really here to tell you about The Barn. The Barn is about 150 years old. Ruth and her husband Peter were never farmers, just artists and activists with a family. Consequently the barn became a magical structure rather than one with mundane farm functions. The old corn cribs became “Midget Village”. There is a General Store, with shelves full of little food containers, a Post Office & Bank, with piles of stickers that look like stamps.
Upstairs are 5 bedrooms, where the family lived in months when the weather was nice.
Peter Kahn was an artist, so the upper floor has a great-room, where the entire north face wall has been replaced with windows; which provides the best light for painting. Downstairs you can slide the doors open on the north and south sides, for another fabulous painting space which allows room for works on big canvas.
There is a little kitchen, 2 burners, an electric teapot, and a sink where the taps are reversed. The shower has reverse taps also, which lends to the campy, leaning walls funhouse appeal of the barn. The floor is made up of so many different elevations that one must be mindful of every step. This has the added benefit of allowing you to notice the 20” wide hand-hewn floor boards.
Ruth mows about 1.5 of the 5 acres she has here. She specifically mows paths through the meadows, so that you can walk amongst the fireflies in the evening. The tall meadow patches are full of butterflies during the day and fireflies in the evening. Her tomato plants are taller than she is, but well tended. Since it is the peak of summer the daylilies are in full bloom. Last year we were here in June, and the Peonies were absolutely amazing.
Loretta is set up in a corner downstairs, working on a couple of paintings, while Luella’s butterfly wing project is spread on the floor. Luella is going to wear the butterfly wings to Burning Man this summer.

The Barn is a funny little landing-pad for traveling friends and their projects. I’m honored to be welcome here.

Road Trip!

2006-07-18T06:44:00.000-06:00

Sis and I are hitting the road today to take the Brother Lemonade message to the Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance.

The event won't begin until Thursday, but we're going to beat the traffic, and make sure we're rested and grounded before the event begins. We'll stay in the Magical Barn / Studio / Summer Bedrooms which belong to Ruth Kahn.

Our dear friend Loretta is currently working on a painting series in the barn's studio, so we'll not only get to spend some time with her, but we'll be in the midst of a creative whirlwind; I am sure. Here's a link to another series of paintings she created while at The Barn.

We're loaded for bear. Phil has made sure we have ice chests, water, and a nice wagon to ease the schlep. We have plenty of flyers printed up for the Couples Exam Class, lots of business cards with the soon-to-be official website address on them, staple guns, screw guns, you name it. I just have to tear myself away from the computer long enough to get my personal things packed.
Besides, we need time to make sure we have cute pink toenails before going to an outdoor event.

And to that end my friends, I will bid you adieu ...

The Brother Lemonade Breast Cancer Initiative, Inc.

2006-07-14T09:14:00.000-06:00

... is a nonprofit, based in NYC (or soon to be anyway). Right now it's mostly based in my computer, and in the hearts and minds of some incredibly powerful, creative, and wonderful people.
The organization is dedicated to helping create communication and community in relation to breast cancer issues.

Our Mission Statement:
To provide playful, fun and imaginative tools for the detection of breast cancer, which facilitate open interpersonal communication, and a freedom from fear.
To make possible fearless breast cancer experiences, by providing people with efficient systems with which to support their friends and family along a cancer journey.
To help people to make Lemonade out of life’s Lemons.

Our core initiatives are:

The Couples Exam Class ... which changes the framework around a breast self exam, from one of Fear, to one of Love, and True Partnership. Exams happen more often, and early detection saves lives... 'nuff said.

The Lemonade League ... which provides tools for building a support team around someone that is involved in a cancer journey.

Art Card Program ...
Shower Cards (Breast Self Exam, or BSE cards), are usually one of two things: Boring, or Scary. We’ve taken on the challenge of reworking this model into a fun, beautiful, and empowering visual experience. Our goal is that shower cards become so beautiful they cannot fade into the décor of your bathroom. Successive versions will expose new artists and styles. We will link to these artists from our website, and make available earlier editions of the shower card series.

Lemonade Lens ...
A link to "Good News" It's out there, there is simply a coverage shortage. With this we are collecting and disseminating articles and news with the "Making Lemonade Attitude.

I'm in the midst of take-off here.
Lessons for myself are: letting people help me, and letting go of control enough to let something be bigger than I am imagining.

It's a wonderful ride.

today's update

2006-07-13T13:44:00.000-06:00

I have been working on a lot of things for the non-profit Brother Lemonade Breast Cancer Initiative ... Everything from finalizing my 30 minute Couples Exam class to writing web text.

Yesterday I recorded myself giving my lecture/class on a digital recorder. (Yay, I love new tools!) It was the first time I had heard myself giving the class, and the first time I'd run through the class after the most recent batch of tweaks. I'm very pleased with the result. I just burned it onto a CD so I can aim for making the presentation without relying so heavily on notes.

This is important because I'm going to teach the class next week in Trumansburg, at the grassroots Festival of Music and Dance http://www.grassrootsfest.org/trumansburg/
I have been invited to teach the class a couple of times a day in the Healing Arts Tent. This is made a little more interesting by the fact that the Festival has a blanket "NO" to non-profits, as they typically get approached by about 50 that want "table-space" to promote their cause. While I was happy to be allowed to teach the class, as I am convinced it saves lives ... I find it inspiring that they've invited me to volunteer (so that I don't pay for admission) ... at the Healing Arts Table, specifically so that I can inform people about my class. I'm at a table-space with a show that allows no table-space. Very Funny, but also consistent with the kind of magic that follows when I align myself with this project.

I am currently in Tuxedo, NY. where we live for the summer in order to operate our businesses at the New York Renaissance Faire. The Faire is only open on weekends, and we're about an hour outside of NYC. This should allow me to approach some yoga studios in friends' neighborhoods in the city for more class venues (on weekdays). I can crash with my friends before or afterward and get some city-time in.

We're planning a Board of Directors meeting in late August in NYC, which will be a lovely opportunity to see friends I haven't seen in awhile.

As for the webtext, I'm mostly done. I subbed out some of the work to Sis, so between the two of us we're making good headway. If I'm fortunate (and I AM a fortunate person), I will get some photos for the website while at Grassroots.

You can be certain I'll post a link when it's online.

Maiden Voyage

2006-07-09T13:10:00.000-06:00

I've been remiss in creating an effective way to stay in touch with people ... There are so many people I care about.

Truth be told, I was better at keeping people updated while I was in treatment for breast cancer ... and the news I have to share is SO much better NOW.

To that end,
a blog is born.

Rhonni