Monday Snax

Liz and Matt, getting married!
Liz, the beautiful bride.
Cocktail hour
A chilly, glamorous cocktail hour under the oaks.
Us
Us!

Our last wedding of 2011 was certainly one to remember: Matt and Liz got hitched at the gorgeous Castle Hill Cidery in Keswick and threw a lavish, memorable party for everyone. We love them so very much and are so delighted that they will be sticking around. Life in this town is way more exciting when it involves the two of them. More photos on Flickr!

Snax:

Meet Our Vendors: Polyface Farm Tour. We just started using Relay Foods for the first time and it’s a totally wonderful thing; you should be justifiably upset that it doesn’t exist yet in your town. Here, the Relay Foods staff takes a photo tour of Joel Salatin’s beautiful and much-lauded Polyface Farm. We just bought our first Polyface chicken this week! (Relay Living)

Farms Need People, Not Machines. Another great push to move away from factory farms and to raise employment levels. (The Atlantic)

How Manure-to-Energy Projects Make the Best of a Stinky Situation. Another factory farming-related issue: A fascinating initiative to make use of one of factory farming’s biggest and stinkiest problems. (Good)

Harry Moo-dini. If you ever thought cows were stupid, you need to watch this one. (Animals Being Di*ks)

American Gothic. Amazing. The now-famous man (the artist’s dentist!) looks none too pleased about it all. (All the Mountains)

American Modern. If pressed to describe the style I’d like to cultivate in my house one day, I think I would just have to point to this book and its pictures. (Cottage Farm)

The Cure for Math Anxiety Might Be in Your Head. Well, it’s good to know that my math phobia is grounded in mental instability. (Good)

Calligraphy Inspiration: Emilie Friday. Oh, to be that skilled with a flexible nib! (Oh So Beautiful Paper)

Why I Write. Why Orhan Pamuk, one of my recent favorites, writes. (Lit Drift)

Sundance Rings. Oh so pretty. (Unruly Things)

A Visual Anthropology of the Last Living Nomads in the World. Riveting photographs. It is hard to believe that there are still people who live like this in these places. (The Atlantic)

Yellow

I am having a very yellow lunch today: banana, mango, and a yellow bell pepper. And I was going to have grilled pineapple, too, but I left it at home. Color! Yes, I could live purely off of fruit and vegetables (so long as dark chocolate counted as a vegetable).

Guion and I finished watching “The House of Flying Daggers” last night and it was exquisite. SO dramatic and beautiful. Ziyi Zhang has to be one of the most gorgeous women alive, too. I told Guion I generally hate films filled with fight scenes, but these fight scenes are more like dances than anything else.

I met a girl at our church on Sunday night (a fourth-year veterinary student in London) who is working this summer studying Joel Salatin’s chickens at Polyface Farm. I was, simply, jealous. I love what their website says: “We are in the redemption business.” Wendell Berry would love these people. Practicing resurrection all day long.