luna acres

honey roasted peanuts, white cheddar crackers, raisins and peanut butter candies.   Until next time, Angela Kelly

 The drive to Harrisonburg only took us about two and a half hours. It was a relaxing journey, with beautiful fall scenery to enjoy. We arrived in downtown Harrisonburg around noon and immediately began to seek sustenance. The Union Station Restaurant and Bar had caught my attention online when I was researching this trip, and when we stumbled upon it we just had to try it out. It is on the second floor of an old warehouse building, which they saved from being demolished when an old seed store went out of business. The decor is industrial chic, lots of iron work and dark wood. The bar is tucked into a corner, you hardly know it's there. As for the food, I very rarely eat soup in a restaurant, but when the waitress said the soup of the day was chorizo chili, I just had to give it a try. Paired with a griled cheese sandwich, it was an incredible lunch. Jonathan enjoyed his panini just as much. We left feeling full and satisfied. I would highly recommend...

foxy roxy garden princess zae bug - DISCLAIMER these adorable kittens have nothing to do with the below post. Thank you. I don't usually write about things outside of myself, my world, things I cannot control. It's not that I have no opinions on this crazy world we live in, just that I feel it's too draining to focus on those things. The world is overflowing with tragedy and conspiracy. I can easily become overwhelmed by caring too much for others, for distant disasters and chaos. It makes me a happier, healthier person to focus my energies on my real life, the physical and mental chaos I face on a daily basis (which truthfully isn't that chaotic, on purpose.) Today, I am going to do something different. I want to spend a few minutes writing about a big corporate monster, conspiracies, chaos, tragedy, and all of those things, but in a way that directly affects me. It affects you too, and you may not realize how much. Some of you may know all abou...

We found a local co-op that delivers in Blacksburg (on our way to work) and offers products from 50 different farms plus the Amish store. We picked up our first order last week, along with some produce from the little market stand. Yesterday morning we treated the family to breakfast, nothing we ate was nearly as delicious as the sausage. We have missed fresh local good-for-you and knowing-how-it-was-raised food more than we could have imagined. To make our first experience even better, we introduced ourselves and were greeted excitedly, with open arms to all the products we can produce (rabbits and mushrooms, our first two projects, are greatly unspoken for!) Delicious food, and networking.  Life is getting better and better. Until next time, Angela Kelly

I am not doing so great inside my own head right now, but I am trying very much to snap out of it. I had the idea to (in order to distract you from my failure to publish a cooking post) start posting what we're having for dinner each night. Nothing long and extravagant, but a picture and maybe I'll tell you what it is. Maybe. The truth is our diet has changed drastically since we have been here. We get help with groceries from our bosses, but the standard method is to buy them, save receipts and be reimbursed. Which is fine, except once we pay our bills we don't have any cash to use for said groceries. I think I may have gone off on a tangent there, sorry. The point is- not a lot of groceries after a week or two of the month. On the bright side we do have an ample selection of meat, plus eggs, milk, and as much as I can haul in for $20 at the Saturday market. This week I didn't go to market. Oh and the harvest of vegetables in the back yard. There's always meat an...

Coming back from vacation is always the hardest part, isn't it? Also I think it's awful how nice the weather was at the beach (cool, in the 80s, scattered showers) compared to here (hot, breaking 100 nearly each day, and rain is only a dream.) Aside from the heat, it is good to be back on the farm. I can't say that I've been very positive during our chores and more still during our breaks when there's just no escaping the heat to relax. It had become our routine to get up early (still not early enough), take a long afternoon nap, then go back out to work around 5 or 6 when the sun is finally low enough to breathe. It helps us avoid the direct sunlight for awhile, but it also makes for long days, done working at 7 or 8, with dinner still to be made and desperately needed showers to be had (assuming there's enough water pressure for showers.) I'm sure that is enough of my complaining for one day, and the least I could do is throw in some good words, so you ...

To celebrate my birthday this year I decided to host a dinner party. I created the menu, bought the groceries, and spent the whole day in the kitchen. Dinner parties have always been a passion for me, ever since I was in middle school. I loved getting out the fine china and dressing up for no reason. It feels nice. Unfortunately, none of my friends could make it, but we still had a lovely dinner with family. It was a great night with the company of my favorite Amy, my parents, my sweetheart of course, and my uncle Mark, which was an unexpected and pleasant addition. Dinner began with a salad of fresh romaine lettuce, strawberries, walnuts, and a blush wine vinaigrette. The appetizer was beautiful shrimp-kabobs with melon, pineapple, and peppers. The Mardi Gras inspired main course was roasted mandarin Cajun chicken, with jambalaya rice and grilled Cajun veggies. I also made a delicious champagne lemonade cocktail that will certainly be on my list for years to come. The most extravag...

Well, it was my birthday weekend, and I had so much fun relaxing and spending time with my favorites. The weekend began with a lazy night at home with Jonathan, playing games and snuggling. Saturday we enjoyed sleeping in. Then we headed to town to visit my sister, Amy. It was great to get to spend the whole day with her. It led to an unexpected night of cooking and hanging out with my sweetheart and our friend Ethan. We helped fix a delicious dinner of lemon-pepper tilapia, rice, stir-fry vegetables, and garlic bread. The weekend ended with a day spent at home, having an indoor picnic with my sweetheart for lunch, and a steak dinner around the table with my family. Throw in a little craft project (Valentine's Day themed, too!) and it was a great weekend. In addition to a beautiful new, more customized blog design, I have lots of blog ideas for this week. I wish I could figure out how to make pretty buttons for my page links, any help? Enjoy my photo weekend adventure. ...