I So Support This

If Jules Verne can manifest his reality, I'm sure we can pull this off. This makes the Roomba look like it's going backwards. We'll take two, please.

Coach Caron Connects You with Success

A very large contributor to our success in moving, building our relationship(s) and enjoying ever more out of life is our lovely and special coach, Caron. I enjoyed producing these couple of introductions with her. Stay tuned for a much larger video project with Caron to be released later this winter. 

If you'd like even more/better/different results in your life, we highly recommend connecting with Caron. (ps I'm happy to say I also took her photo on the front page of her website...isn't she beautiful?) 

See the Difference

Our friend Holly asked us to make a change so her photo opps were up to her standards. What did we do? 

The quick change we made caused the entire property to sigh with relief. 

Photo Credit: Riley Johndonnel, who is currently sparking a project called Makehappyspots.com, an ambitious, making-people-happy community collaboration starting in New York City. 

More photos from Riley and Holly soon! 

Turn Your Face Towards the Sun

Photo by Chad Minnick

Our sunflowers are blooming! Many of them are taller than either of us and beaming their tremendous sunny yellowness. You can almost hear them shout "Summer!"

“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows follow behind you.”~ Maori Proverb

Process

This image speaks a lot about what we are learning here at North Star Hall. 

Those zinnias are growing in an old bucket, exactly where we found it when we moved in this spring. 

Where attention goes, energy flows and results show. An abandoned, rusted garbage-filled bucket is now home to an abundant bouquet of flowers. We made our choices, as a result fresh life is coursing into new places. 

If we don't water the zinnias, they die. Our ongoing attention is required. 

Someone else might have taken bucket and all and thrown it on the trash heap. For whatever reason, Chad and I decided to make it beautiful. A living "shabby and chic" experiment. 

We are already beginning to prepare for winter. This bucket teaming with blossoms will soon look like nothing more than an old dirty bucket again. A blank, fertile canvas. For several long, chilly months there will be no visible signs of life. What will we do with the bucket next year? 

Our garden is like that. Once crowded with weeds and thistles, it is beginning to come alive and be fruitful because we are putting our attention to it in the form of constant weeding, watering and fertilizing. 

The entire Grange experience has been one of choice, attention and flowing energy where we can, or at least where it makes sense at the moment. When we first looked at this place it was a cold, dusty gray rat and bat poop-filled musty old bucket of a building. We didn't know if the water or electricity would work. I obsessed for weeks if buying this place was the right thing to do. "What if it doesn't work? But it's a great price. It's a beautiful building rich with history. But what if it doesn't work out? What will we do? Should we go for it or should we walk away and save the trouble?"

I still feel somewhat obsessed over whether we should be doing this or not. I can't say it's been an easy process, or even always enjoyable. However, after months of attention the building is beginning to hum and vibrate with life. Everything feels warmer, more comfortable, more together. Right this second Chad is preparing one of our guest bedrooms for our first bed and breakfast guests. He invested several hours this morning getting hot and cold running water in two of our bathrooms! Every day sees new improvements. Our attention and choice to shine love on this land is beginning to pay off. Flow is occurring, we are enjoying more of the results we were looking for and worked hard to achieve. We have taken this fallow bucket of a building and are turning it into a thriving bouquet of Life. 

Thank you! 

Facing East

Our classroom, facing east:

We have a lot of work to do. We feel so lucky to have the space we do. I am excited to find some yoga partners! 

One of the images I posted this morning to our new Airbnb.com page: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/3857454

Please feel free to share the Airbnb page on Facebook, or with anyone you consider to be any mix of bright, happy, creative, motivated and that you think would vibe with our North Star world. Thank you! 

Wild Turkeys

I wouldn't consider myself a great wildlife photographer. Aside from the gear, wildlife photographers enjoy a great deal more patience than I. Nonetheless, these first two snaps excite me because this turkey family was in our yard, pecking for food and chilling out near the cool spray of the sprinkler. The second reason these excite me is simply because I used my camera gear for a shoot this weekend and it was ready to go...the way camera gear should be! When I came around the corner of the building and saw this family, I snuck backwards into the house, grabbed my camera, switched to the telephoto lens really quick and ran back outside to be with the turkeys. So simple and satisfying! 

This also points to the mixed blessing of having the animals discover our yard as a lush place full of food. Now we are back to warding off the deer and rabbits. 

I thought I'd throw in a couple more turkey snaps from this last winter at the canyon. This flock had maybe 30 turkeys, all of whom launched themselves into the cabin at roughly the same time. It was quite dramatic. 

Random North Star Hall Update

The bugs love the huge barn light at the south end of the building, over the double doors. We have a 200w bulb that blazes the entire yard. I looked for the name of this large moth to no avail. If anyone knows the name or wants to look it up, I'd love to know. Being a tour guide and introducing folks to the area is much more enjoyable when I don't have to make stuff up. 

Another zinnia photo. Every zinnia I see lights me up. What darkens my flowery outlook is the obliterated zinnias that were growing perfectly at the classroom door. Every morning this week I've woken to find some malicious critter has snapped a new plant off at it's base. I seeded, nurtured and enjoyed watching these plants grow and bloom. Then blammo. Gone. Like they never happened. Thankfully the other zinnia's remain thus far untouched. Devoured bedding plants further encourages us to go with natural, locally occurring plants. I'd love to know more plants that are repugnant to deer and rabbits. 

This tomato came to us via the plants that Darren and Lisa dropped off earlier in the summer. How awesome is that?! Our first beefsteak tomato! This evening we used the basil they also gave us and made a delicious caprese salad drizzled with avocado oil and a sweet and thick balsamic glaze. A yummy vinegar glaze that incidentally, Darren recommended. Tasty treats gratis' Darren and Lisa! Thank you! 

We'd love some advice on the cracking tomato part. Did we simply leave it on the vine too long? 

Yum Caprese!

Last night we sliced our first squash, sliced and toasted with oil, a touch of that balsamic vinegar glaze and pink himalayan salt. We all know that organically grown garden fresh tomatoes taste better than store bought. We were delighted to discover that our garden squash tasted amazing! Full of flavor and nuance. Now we love squash! 

Brookstone Ionizer

Last fall our good friend Nina allowed us to use her Brookstone Ionizer at the cabin on extended loan. I notice it gets very mixed reviews on Amazon from a handful of reviewers. We love it! This ionizer carried out multiple scent-reducing jobs at the lake cabin very effectively. Since moving here to North Star Hall it's proven it's worth again. Our larger basement has water issues that leaves a hanging, damp, musty odor in the air. Left alone that dank air tends to waft it's unpleasantness upstairs to the rest of the hall, especially in bathrooms next to the theater room. When we leave the ionizer running in the basement there are no awkward smells anywhere! The results are clear. Up until the setting of "7" it runs near silently.

Contrary to the couple of Amazon reviews, we've been running this thing pretty much 24/7 for months now without issue. When the little amber light comes on at the bottom of the unit, I'll take it outside and rinse it off with a hose. I find it cleans rather quickly. I don't think I would risk putting it in the dishwasher. Although it's apparently designed for cleaning in a dishwasher, I suspect doing so would be hard on the plastic and wires.

We highly recommend this product! Treat it well and it'll clear your air for you for a long time.

Abundance

Mostly we intend to focus on perennials. But who can resist zinnia's? They are starting to bloom and they are beautiful. We'll keep the zinnia's around. For whatever reason, they feel era appropriate, like they belong here.

We enjoyed our first sit-down, candle-lit, home-cooked dinner with special guests last night in the classroom! Cloth napkins, parmesan grater, toasted bread topped with mozzarella and fresh picked basil and drizzled with a summery balsamic vinegar gaze accompanied our three cheese stuffed tortellini drenched in a roasted garlic tomato sauce. We served a simple salad picked from our garden. Before dinner we raised our glasses to our collective victories,  with a special nod to Chad's mother Lauretta for helping to make our meal even more enjoyable by providing tables, chairs, glasses and cutlery. Thank you Lauretta!

In many ways, last night represented many dreams coming true. We are blessed with wonderful support from family and friends across the world.

Thank you!