04

We have been fairly busy since our last update. We have made enemies with buttercup and morning glory, both of which we have found impossible to eradicate. The other day we harvested cherries, which was fun because it meant that we could eat them as we were doing it. Also, it gave us time to daydream about the possibility of raw cherry pie.

Today we fought (and beat) fennel roots which tried harder than anything to stay in the ground. I would say it has been quite a successful week.

Diane showed up for a little while, but she wasn’t able to stay for too long. (this means that kate and I attempted to write/play music). We went outside into the field and brainstormed all the reasons that we hate buttercup; musically. Anyway, it’s a song that is a work in progress.

We also used the sauna for the first time. It was hot, but we did not sweat nearly as much as we were hoping for. I blame this on the lack of steam because nothing else seems to make sense (we are open to suggestion however, so any explanation is welcome). We need to make use of that sauna more often.

The other day Trayce decided that he wanted to make a trip to the local(ish) co-op and get some essentials. He invited us to go along, and we accepted. I knew that going would cause me to spend far too much money, which it did, but we both needed a few things. Through this trip we discovered why Trayce’s car looks the way it does, as well as solidified the stereotype of spacey raw foodists in our hearts forever. I think this scared us both enough away from ever even trying to be 100% raw.

We also went on a day trip to Vancouver.

On the way we stopped at two wineries that made fruit wines almost exclusively. First was Wellbrook Winery.

All of their wines were fruit wines. Some were dessert wines and I think they had a few ice wines. We only tried the table wines. They were really good for the most part, and the woman who worked there was super friendly. We ended up buying a dry white cranberry apple bottle of wine. Sanduz winery was our next stop.

Upon entering we immediately felt a little uncomfortable. The woman working could apparently tell that we were from out of town (and country!). We tasted a few wines, and ended up buying a white currant wine which was delicious.

After our winery stops we cruised into Vancouver. Our first destination was a raw food restaurant called Gorilla Food. We ate raw pesto pizza, a raw burger, and zucchini hummus with flax crackers.

For dessert we had raw fudge and a treat that they called Gorilla Biscuits, which we had to have for the name alone, and as a dedication to hardcore kids everywhere.

All of the food was very good, but we both agree that the food here at cedar springs is better (also free. I don’t yet know if that has anything to do with it). When we paid, the woman gave us back way too much change; however we did not realize this until after we left. This reaffirmed the notion of spacey raw foodists for us once again.

Stanley Park was our next stop. It is a huge city park in Vancouver that has a lot to do and see. We saw some fairly impressive totem poles, the beautiful and futuristic cityscape, a beach, hollow tree, and a lot of benches.

We basically just walked and drove around for a bit and took a bunch of pictures. Kate talked in a pretty poor British accent for most of the time for no reason. Maybe just to annoy me and practice her accent. Someday it will be totally legit. It was really nice and made me wish that I lived there so I could ride my bike around the park every day.

After Stanley Park we went to an area of Vancouver called Gastown. It is supposed to be the oldest area in the city. We walked around a bit there, but it was mostly just lame tourist shops. It was pretty beautiful and nice to walk around, but that was about it. Then again, you can’t really expect too much from a city. However, we did find this gem in a tourist shop. We almost bought it to mail to Leslie, but since the Canadian dollar is currently just as strong as the American dollar, we decided just to take a picture.

Once our parking meter time was up, we headed over to Chinatown which is supposed to be the biggest Chinatown in North America. When we got there everything was closing up. We were pretty unimpressed. We decided to just go get dinner instead of walking around for the sake of it.

Radha Yoga and Eatery was our dinner destination. It is a non-profit yoga and vegan/raw restaurant. We toyed with the idea of getting a raw dish, but instead we decided to delve into the world of cooked food. We also caved and both got tempeh in our meals, already succumbing to the world of soy. Both meals were delicious and well worth what we spent on them.

That day was Kate's mom's birthday, so for dessert we had a chocolate cherry jubilee with ice cream completely made out of cashews in her honor.

It was absolutely phenomenal.

After dinner we headed back to cedar springs, but not before stopping to take some swell pictures with a couple of bears in rad costumes.

Over the weekend we weeded everything, as well as washed every window ever, and helped out in the kitchen.

There have been some really great meals lately, although we're currently in the middle of a three-day juice fast. One night we helped make and eat raw falafel.

We watched and helped AJ make chocolate and Sage make onion bread. We put sprouted buckwheat into some of the chocolate to make it crispy. Other variations included: orange, goji berries, peppermint, maca, and raspberries on top.

Both chocolate and raw bread making are going to be necessary and regular activities for me in the future. We also had wheatgrass, which didn’t agree with Kate’s stomach that day and made her throw up, but made me very happy.

We decided that we needed to camp out while we were here, so we set up the tent in the middle of the meadow.

We spent two nights in it, which were both significantly more pleasant than our camping experience in Wyoming. We drank wine, snacked and were not afraid of bears (for the most part).

Trayce gave a “performance” for us and all the guests. It was long. Luckily, some people were into it, and enjoyed it. We had to escape at a certain point otherwise I might not have been here to post this entry. Did I mention that it was long yet?

That night AJ, Kat (a guest here) Trayce, Kate and I had a fire out by the creek. It was small but really nice. This place has really started feeling like summer camp, and that was probably the thing that pushed it overboard.

Tonight is our last night here. It is strange thinking that we are done doing work here and will be gone tomorrow. I could probably stay here for at least another couple of weeks, but I know that it is time to move on and continue to do really awesome new things. We have learned a lot and I am very grateful for that. I was expecting that the only things I would learn would be about gardening, but it has been so much more. We are both ready to be healthier people and to continue learning about things that we do not know nearly enough about. I think that is a much greater lesson than anything else I could have taken away from here.

Love,
Cheryl