Missing Person is Found: Rocky Reynecke

Updated: May 16, 2012.  Rocky has been found.  Post here.

Original Post: March 5, 2012

My friend's son, Rocky Reynecke (aka Roland Louw) went missing on February 4th, 2012.

He is white, male, 27 years old, 6'1", 185 lbs, green eyes and light brown hair.

He is originally from South Africa but most recently has been living near Houston, Texas.

If you know Rocky, ask him to please call his family.  If you think you've seen him, please call the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department... 936-760-5800.

Thanks.

For more information: facebook, blog

Is There a Restaurant Nearby That You Like?

Hubba and I headed out to one of our favorite restaurants on Friday night... Tasty Harmony in Fort Collins.

We forgot it was Great Plates, so they were slammed and had a line.  We weren't in the mood to wait, so we decided to walk around a little... but as I said, it was Great Plates and it was Friday night and it seemed that everyone was slammed.

Great Plates is a two week festival of sorts, highlighting some of the restaurants in Downtown Fort Collins.  30 restaurants are participating this year. Each puts together special dishes highlighting things about their place and offers it at a significant discount.  It continues for another 10 days, so we will participate... we just weren't in the mood for waiting on Friday.

So we went to the Book Store.  I had heard great things about Old Firehouse Books.  I follow them on Twitter.  I had tried to find the store a few times... it was always cold and I didn't have anything in particular I was looking for, so I hadn't been successful.  But this time, I had their address.  It turns out I was really close, but I kept turning right when I should have been turning left.  doh.

The book store was great.  There's an adjoining tea house.  They have a terrific selection of new and used books and the place is completely accessible.

We found a few books that came home with us...

The clerk was very friendly.  Which honestly is always the case... It seems that people are always friendly where ever we go.  Have I mentioned here how much I love being back in Colorado?

So we asked her, "Is there a restaurant nearby that you like?"

She listed off a few places that we had already tried then said, "Oh if you like Chinese Food, I really like Taipan.  It's in the parking garage."

"In the parking garage?  Yeah, let's go there!"  No, I'm not being sarcastic.  :-)

It was a two-block walk and yes, it's in the parking garage...

It turns out that this is the back door.  They do have a proper store front that is street-facing.

It was delicious, with a nice ambiance and great service.

Fiber Arts Friday: Oh, the Heartbreak

Last Friday I showed you my wonderfully fitting sock that was just a tiny bit tight getting over my heel.

I said that I would tink back a few rounds so that I could knit the leg on larger needles to resolve that problem.  Then I realized it would be more like 20 rounds of tinking and therefore decided to rip them out and return the sock to the needles.

There was only one problem...

I couldn't get the sock back on the needles.  :-/

So, in a very short period of time, I went from this...

to this...

:-(

Just so you know, this heartbreak could have been avoided had I used a few life lines along the way.  Lesson learned.... again.  Hopefully it sticks this time.  ugh.

I'm certain you'll see much more productive fiber-y goodness if you head over to Wisdom Begins in Wonder for Fiber Arts Friday.

Signs of Spring

It's March 1st.  There are still more than two months of hard-freezes to go, but the signs of spring are showing up all over the place...

Chicks at the feed store.  Sorry, I forgot to take photos, but they were very cute.  :-)

Trees preparing to bud:

Hyacinth poking up through the ground:

Grass turning green:

Dogs beginning to shed:

Charging the battery on the lawn mower:

The requisite broken thing related to said lawn mower:

Yes, that used to be an iPhone.  Hubba dropped it while mowing our field.  Then accidentally ran over it.

Happy Almost Spring!

Slow Living: February 2012

I love the idea of living a more sustainable and simple life.  It's one of the big reasons why we moved to our own farm in 2009.

Karen of Bare Feet and a Free Spirit turned me on to the Slow Living Project which seems right up my alley.  :-)  It's a monthly diary of things people are doing in a host of categories.  And since the One Small Change project formally ended last year, I've lost a bit of focus on these things.  So I hope they don't mind that a Yank is joining in.  ;-)


NOURISH: Make and bake as much as possible from scratch. Ditch overpackaged, overprocessed convenience foods and opt for 'real' food instead. Share favourite links/recipes/tips from the month here.


We already do a lot of preparing of food from scratch, but I know we can do better. For example, I love baking bread but generally don't and our freezer is often stocked with prepared meal items from CostCo.

I like the idea of making pasta from scratch... especially since Kelly at Twill&Dot makes it sound so luxurious.

I have restarted a yoga practice. I'm not entirely sure that this meets the intent of this category but it has been very nourishing for my state of mind. :-)

PREPARE: Stockpile and preserve. Freeze extra meals or excess garden/market produce. Bottle/can, dehydrate or pickle foods to enjoy when they are not in season. Aim to reduce dependency on store bought items especially those known to contain BPA and other suspect additives. Stocking up on dry goods when prices are low counts too.

We're in the middle of winter now, so we have been enjoying the tomato sauce I put up last summer. In fact we're down to one jar left.

My snow-covered garden with piles of alpaca manure at one end

It took me a bit to realize this, but I have been stockpiling alpaca manure and spent hay since last fall.  We had been giving it to friends and our neighbor took a bunch for his beer garden, but this year it's all for us.  :-)  Most will be tilled into the vegetable garden once spring arrives. This will be our second year having a garden at this house, so I'm hopeful the added manure and hay will help the clay soil out a lot.


Two of my friends are leaders for local girl scout troops so we support them by buying our annual supply of tasty girl scout cookies from their two troops. :-)  We bought several boxes that went into the freezer. :-)

REDUCE: Cut down on household waste by re-using, re-purposing and repairing. A ladder into a strawberry planter? A sheet into a dress? Share ideas and project links here, allowing others to be inspired.

This has been a significant effort since we put our former house up for sale in early 2009. We have been very focused on using what we already have... especially clothing. It's quite surprising how much we had... and still do. In the last three years we've only purchased a small amount... things like undergarments, socks and jeans, but not much else.

Unfortunately the only recent re-purposing I can think of is taking some of the carpet we ripped out of our basement and cut up into mats for the dogs. Nothing fancy of course, but it was going to the land-fill, so I feel better about that.

We also continue to recycle more than we throw away but the amount seems to have plateaued, so I want to focus even more on the packaging before it finds it's way into our home and reduce both the garbage and recycling.

GREEN: up our lives. Start (or continue!) using homemade cleaners, body products and basic herbal remedies. The options are endless, the savings huge and the health benefits enormous.

I bought some compact florescent lights, but have been hugely disappointed with them. The light feels sickening. Is there a version that feels more like an incandescent or natural light and not an institution? Also are there brands that are not packaged in an fortress of plastic?

I have not been traveling as much which has me working from home a lot more... therefore no commuting which means no extra fuel emissions for a while. I sure like working from home. :-)

GROW: plant/harvest. What's growing this month? What's being eaten from the garden? Herbs in a pot, sprouts on a windowsill or and entire fruit/vegetable garden -opt for what fits space and time constraints. Don't have a backyard? Ask a friendly neighbour or relative for a small patch of theirs in return for some home grown produce, they may surprise you!

It's winter now so there's not much growing around here with the exception of Alpaca. We have 13 alpaca growing their luxurious fleece which will be shorn in May. We also have (hopefully) four cria growing in our mommies tummies. The cria are due in late fall.

Alpacamundo's Big Thompson

I have also noticed that the trees are starting to swell in preparation for the buds to come out. This gets me excited since we planted several young fruit trees last year and they all are showing the same signs.  :-)

our young peach tree showing signs of budding soon

CREATE: to fill a need or feed the soul. Create for ourselves or for others. Create something as simple as a handmade gift tag or something as extravagant as a fine knit shawl. Share project details and any new skills learnt here. 

I do a lot of creation... felting, knitting and knitting this month. :-)

DISCOVER: Feed the mind by reading texts relevant to current interests. Trawl libraries, second hand shops or local book shops to find titles that fill the need. Share titles/authors of what is being read this month.

Over the last couple of months, we have taken to discovering our (now not so new) community... mostly this has been new to us restaurants and long drives exploring the area. Even though we have lived here for more than two years, but with both of us generally travelling a lot for our day jobs there is still a lot to discover.

ENHANCE: community: Possibilities include supporting local growers and producers, help out at a local school/kindergarten, barter or foodswap, joining a playgroup or forming a walking or craft group. Car pooling where possible and biking/walking instead of driving. Even start up a blog if you haven't already - online communities count too! Or maybe just help out someone trying to cross the street! The rewards for your time are often returned tenfold.

It felt like we were single-handedly be keeping our neighbor the plumber in business earlier this month. :-/ A new water heater and some pipe repair as a result of discovering two (fortunately small) floods in the basement.

ENJOY: Life! Embrace moments with friends and family. Marking the seasons, celebrations and new arrivals are all cause for enjoyment. Share a moment to be remembered from the month here.

I've been trying to spend more time with friends, knit night and dedicated time with Hubba, the dogs and alpacas.

With the days getting longer and me working remotely more, Hubba and I have been able to take the dogs on several walks together this month. It's a fun time for all of us. :-)

I was able to (finally) catch up with a friend for dinner after 6-ish weeks of one or both of us having to re-schedule. I just love her. We have a terrific time whenever we get together. :-)

View of Mount Audubon

I also went snowshoeing (my first time) with a group of friends. :-)


So this is my first journal for the Slow Living Project.  It's quite a long post, so thank you for getting this far.  ;-)  I plan to write more during the month as we do these things.  :-)


If you're interested in seeing what others are doing, please head over to Slow Living Essentials to see the February updates.

Flexibility, Calmness and Strength

I restarted yoga earlier this month with the goal of increasing my flexibility, mental calmness and physical strength.

I have practiced yoga regularly in the past but it's been pretty much non-existent for the preceding 3 years or so.  As a result I've gained weight and pain and lost flexibility and strength.

Usually when I restart something as intense as Bikram Yoga it's pretty rough, but my first class went remarkably well.  I think it's because I made sure I was well hydrated for a few days before as well as prepared my mind to be focused on the moment.  I had decided that if I needed to sit down I would, but my goal was to remain standing (and breathing) throughout the entire standing series.  I did.  I was very surprised and proud of myself.  :-)

My second and third classes were quite wobbly but I was able to experience improvement in many of the postures.  There's nothing quite like instant gratification, right?

I am really liking this studio.  Between the instructors, students, location and decor this studio has a great vibe; very welcoming and comforting.   Always a nice thing when you're starting out.  :-)

Behind making the time and actually going to the classes, I think the hardest part about restarting yoga has been leaving my stuff at the door.  It's been taking me about half the class to get into the zone of just focusing on my breath and posture and not thinking about the stuff that happened that day or still needs to happen or whatever.  Leaving the stuff behind has definitely been the most challenging.

So now that it's been a few weeks, I'm feeling great.  My pain, flexibility, strength and peacefulness are all improving.  Hubba says I look different.  I'm not so sure about that, but it's nice that he thinks so.  ;-)

The Pre-Game Show

By most accounts, I'm not much of a girly-girl.

I can count the number of times I've had a pedicure (2), manicure (1), massage (about 20) and other-wise spa day (0).

I don't care much for dresses although my mom tells me I liked them as a little girl.  I do wear them to things like weddings and Mass, but I don't believe I've ever worn a dress to work.

... Oh, I take that back.  I did wear a couple of skirts when I had an internship in a down-town office building when I was a graduate student.  I remember resenting it at time.  It was clear we were expected to dress up, but I spent my entire time in an office... by myself... doing research.  So, apparently the books, papers and periodicals had high standards for the people who were reading them.  :-/

The evidence that I'm not really a girly-girl continues with (1) I love math and I'm really good at it, (2) I'm a mechanical engineer and actually miss it a little, (3) I love building things and working with my hands and (4) we are building a farm for ourselves.

But all of this not-girly-girl stuff goes out the window when it's red carpet time.

I like the Oscars because I enjoy movies, but I LOVE the pre-game show.  :-D

I love watching the celebrities go up the red carpet and seeing what they're wearing... mostly the clothing but also the jewelry, shoes and hair-dos.

I almost always pick up a copy of People Magazine and try to catch the appropriate episode of Entertainment Tonight... I'm such a little girl about this stuff.  Hubba thinks it's pretty funny.

I don't really know most of the designers very well... I mean, I do know some of them.  Oh, alright fine, I know who a lot of them are.  ;-)

I dream of creating my own line... and when they ask, "Who are you wearing?" Sometimes they'll say, "Kathryn Ray."