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Something good, every day.
Coffee Talk – Just Us!
Eating local, shopping local and buying local is important to me. I try to be mindful in all of my spending habits, and I tend to prioritize local over things that “come from away.”
Although I must admit that I won’t necessarily go without something if I can’t get it locally, and my frugality tends to rear it’s thrifty head over certain things.
Sackville, NB does not have a local coffee roaster, at least not one that I’ve found so far (I just moved here this month). But the local grocers do sell Just Us! Coffee from Grand Pré, NS. It checks off the organic and fair trade boxes and is reasonably priced. While it’s not exactly “local,” it’s at least from the maritimes.
Bee and I are home brewers (there’s that frugality!) and make coffee in our french press or aeropress from fresh ground beans pretty much every morning. In the summer I love cold brew coffee, but cooler autumn mornings are upon us, so we’ve moved on to hot coffee.
Speaking of cold brew, I don’t think we will ever beat the fantastic beans that Kat from Meeting Waters Coffee in Tatamagouche, NS custom roasted for us for our very brief stint serving Cottage Cold Brew at the Pugwash, NS Farmers’ Market this summer. That was the best coffee ever. Unfortunately it’s a lot harder for us to get out to Tata since we moved to Sackville, NB.
We are on our third lb of whole bean coffee from Just Us! and we’ve had mixed results. Bee and I both like a dark roast, but we couldn’t resist trying one of the medium roasts because it smelled so good. I drink mine black; Bee usually adds homemade cashew cream and brown sugar.
My completely biased thoughts:
Atlantic Blend
Medium Roast
I really wanted to like this, but I just don’t. The name is just maritimey enough to appeal and the aroma from the air valve was heavenly, but the taste didn’t live up to the smell. Too bad!
My rating: 2 beans out of 5.
Rise Again
Dark Roast
This is a darker roast, but it still didn’t cut it for either of us. It’s not bad, just not good enough to make our regular brew.
My rating: 3 beans out of 5.
Breaking the Silence
Here we go! This I could get used to. It’s not perfect, but it’s perfectly adequate. Dark, not too acidic and a decent cup!
My rating: 4 beans out of 5.
original reviews accidentally deleted
because I am an idiot
I think the hunt for local(ish) coffee continues!
In the beginning…
there were words. And love.
A vote for hope
This post was imported from an old wordpress.com blog I used to have.
Today, from the other end of the country, I cast my absentee ballot (by mail) for the Canadian federal election. I did not vote for the candidate or party that I think will win. I did not vote against any candidate or party by voting “strategically.” Instead I voted with my head and my heart. I educated myself on the issues that matter to me, and did not allow myself to be persuaded by fear or anger or disgust. I voted with my conscience. I voted with love. Most importantly, I voted with hope.
Total Eclipse of the Supermoon
This post was imported from an old wordpress.com blog I used to have.
forever’s gonna start tonight
Last night we sat on the deck. It was chilly and windy, but not cold. We lit a fire in the Mexican chiminea. Mom toasted marshmallows and we made s’mores with caramilk bar and graham wafers. Dad popped popcorn for the main event: the lunar eclipse. Not exactly action packed, but better than most movies. We watched the Supermoon rise over the trees after dinner. Aldon fiddled with the high-tech gadget that is my father’s telescope (that he never uses). We chatted and laughed and pointed out every slight change in the sky. We passed a set of binoculars back and forth. We worried that the trees might block the view of the main event. We sat out on the deck lit only by the bright, bright moon and the orange-red mouth of the chiminea and enjoyed a shared experience, a celestial opportunity for family bonding.
Today
This post was imported from an old wordpress.com blog I used to have.
Today was as bright and sweet and cool and crisp as the apples growing in the yard. The laundry hung on the line soaking it up all day. The sheets and pillowcases still saturated by the breeze, the sun, the change in the air, and I know we’ll sleep well tonight.
In the beginning
This post was imported from an old wordpress.com blog I used to have.
There was one. She craved change. The desire finally got so strong that she did something about it.
And then he appeared. But he didn’t derail her desire, he only increased it.
So she asked him to adventure with her, and he agreed. Neither of them knew what would come next, where they would go, what they would do, but they knew they’d be together.
About
This post was imported from an old wordpress.com blog I used to have.
I turned 40 this year. I don’t feel I’ve aged much in the last 20 years, but I guess it’s happening. I love to travel. I love to see new things, feel new feels, smell new smells… you get the idea.
Most of my travel lately has been to the US. I was lucky enough to get to travel for work a couple of times a year, and with my folks living down there for 6 months of the year I always had a good excuse to go. I managed to see most of the US cities on my list in the past few years: New York, New Orleans, Portland, Austin, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle etc.
I moved to South Korea in 2008. I went there to try my hand at teaching English for a year, and didn’t have a very good experience, so I came home after 3 months.
In 1999 I did a 3-week Contiki tour through Europe with my future (then) and ex (now) husband. It was a great way to see a lot of stuff and decide where I’d want to go when I returned.
About a year ago I decided that I was done with the status quo of my life. I had a great job that paid well and I really liked the people I worked with, but hated working a 9-5 office job. I quit and put my condo on the market. I decided to move to the East Coast to be closer to my family. But things didn’t go exactly (or at all) as planned. The condo didn’t sell right away. Or even fairly soon. It ended up taking 8 months. In the meantime I fell madly in love with Aldon and we started making a new plan. One where we’d stick together. One where we’d live every day as an adventure.
Here we go!