Rio Vista: Week Four – Tunak Tunak Tun

This week we reviewed, reviewed, reviewed! Learning that the second section of Tunak Tunak Tun choreography is very similar to the first section makes for a great practice and helps to reinforce technical aptitude towards the moves learned. 

There are some changes in the second section to be aware of, but mostly it is about retaining the training from the first three weeks. At this stage we are more than half way through the song and focusing on tightening and cleaning up the moves. Think of it as starting to clear away the dust on a chiseled sculpture, it is not quite done but we can see the image appearing.

Question: What is taboo in your family or community?

While you wait for class:

Really work on head slides, hip slides and posture through all the bouncy moves. Clean away that dust and add a few details.

See you next week! Thank you so much ladies!

Nomday: Bountiful Baskets

This Nomday is more about obtaining foods than making. The household has opted to experiment with the Bountiful Baskets program. This is a very cool little co-op market deal. Check out their website for the full spiel but basically it is a community grocery store in a public parking lot. Volunteers use cute little plastic laundry baskets to organize the foods, but you have you bring your own bags to cart it away. The cost is low because there is so little overhead and it is all volunteer run. The best part is if you volunteer your time, there might be some extra goodies in your basket.

Our locations are primarily in school lots and I was happily surprised to find that I knew many of the people shopping and working. The price was worth the amount of fresh fruits and veggies obtained and there was a nice friendly community feel to the whole ordeal. 

I am super excited to try this again next week!

A few caveats; most items still need to ripen, which is great, unless you want to use it right away. Bring bags and boxes and a cart or a friend to help carry; there is way more than you would expect! 

Bountiful Baskets

http://bountifulbaskets.org/

Tovrea Castle Summer Hours

There was little time for a Castle related excursion this week due to holidays, pirates and writing adventures, but I cannot go without mentioning the change in tour hours and summer plans without feeling as though I am shirking my duties on this subject.

Tovrea Castle tours will not cease even in the summer heat! July through September Tovrea Cararro Society docents remind visitors to wear lightweight clothing, apply sunscreen and drink plenty of water on the outdoor tours but please do not let the desert heat keep you from experiencing this amazing site. In fact, the early bird 7:00 AM tour time might be an even better reason to schedule during the summer. What could be a more inspiring start to the day than a sunrise view of the spectacular castle and grounds? We dare you to have a bad day at work after that.

So, please, do not forget our humble castle this summer!

Tovrea Carraro Society
5025 East Van Buren Street
Phoenix Arizona

www.tovreacastletours.com/

602-256-3221

Belly Dance in July!

Belly Dance Classes/ Shows in July;

Tuesdays 6:00PM - 7:00PM AdeebA's Home Studio (Peoria, AZ)

Wednesdays 6:30PM - 7:30PM Rio Vista Community Center (Peoria, AZ)

Fridays 5:30-6:30PM Foothills Aquatics Center (Glendale, AZ)

July 22nd, 6:00PM - 9:00PM Next Coffee (Glendale, AZ). Free. All ages.

July 28th, 7:00PM - 11:00PM Revolver Records (Phoneix, AZ) Pirate Mud Wrestling 18+ Only $15

Winter Garden Week Three

The gardening blogs are going to be rather uneventful for the next couple weeks I think. Nothing is sprouting just yet. There is not any real work to be done until something greeny starts popping out. Does anyone have any advice how to alleviate the tedium of waiting?

I was gifted with a few more seed pockets this week though. Thank you so much, Max! So, now I am pleased to announce, the victory garden will have spinach, oregano, chives, eggplant, and African daisies! This is all so very exciting and it makes me even less patient!

I did find out that while it is very convenient to water the garden from the kitchen sink spray nozzle, I will have to do some major soaking every now and again with the outdoor hose or the reserve water in the shed.

Maybe next week there will be some action to report. Until then I will continue to take my umbrella out in the moonlight and dance around the garden fence with my invisible garden gnomes!

Winter Yard and Garden Week One

After much procrastination and excuses, it is ready! The raised garden that I hope to add to our household’s security in case of zombie apocalypse is ready for seeds!

Arizona has horrible soil for just about anything to grow in so instead of relying on digging into the backyard, which also has an array of broken water systems under it, I built the garden plot on top of the hard ground. I also have the luxury of an abundance of decorative river rock covering a quarter of the yard. The river rock worked great to create a irrigation bed to lay the layers of soil on top of and to surround the garden plot. I am also so fortunate to have several leaf shedding trees surrounding the yard. The fruits of their decay litter the yard faster than I can usually dispose of it but it is great for a mulch layer on top of the rocks.

Now, I have a layer of tightly packed large rocks that allow water to run through, but not too fast. Above the rocks, a layer of mulchy plant to catch more water, and to decay into further nutrients for the next layer. Finally, store bought rich soil tops it all off. A low rock wall and a chicken wire frame to keep critters at bay surround all the layers. The next step is to wait a few days for the current layers to settle a bit before adding layer of my very happy compost, and a final layer of more soil. I may try to grow some plants as it sits now though, just to see if they take. I would really like to give the compost a bit more time to decompose and I really am trying t save money after the holidays.

Any seed suggestions for winter in Arizona?

Fall Yard and Gardening Day One

I am so grateful to have Frank helping in the complete overhaul of my yard into a functional raised garden and zombie apocalypse, preparedness zone. The goal is to have four garden boxes, a hanging plant awning, and a narrow herb garden by November, winter planting season in Arizona.

The compost is evolving wonderfully! It is turning into a bit of a habitat, which is much more than I expected. I assumed an open compost pile would attract flies and ants, but it did not cross my mind that the garden lizards that roam the yard would also get fat on the spoiled vegetation and the insects. I think we have the largest lizards in the development. The most difficult part of using an open plastic storage bin as compost in Arizona is the consistent need to water it. I save jugs of water in the shed in case of a not so rainy day, and typically have to pour six gallons every other week into the bin. The pile fortunately does not smell as bad as I expected from rotting vegetation. The most exciting part, I began with very little actual soil and now the tub is nearly full to the top with rich black dirt!

With a ten gallon tub of fresh made planting soil I need a place to use it. The ground in the yard is incredibly hard and not conducive to growing at all. Add to the soil issue, the former home owners installed a sprinkler system that has fallen into complete disrepair. Without large sums of money the system is neither going to be repaired or removed. So, I have a large hard surface that I cannot feasibly till into even if my compost is the natural born Miracle Grow. Time for higher thinking and rocks.

Yes, I have half a lawn filled with river rocks! I cannot stand to look at them there are so many. But, rocks are great for potted plant gardening. Placing rocks in the base of a pot allows the water to drain away from the dirt and not over saturate plants. Who needs a pot though when I have plenty of rocks! The plan: lay out a grid of rock bed rectangles. Each bed in this case is about five foot by seven foot. Once the bed is made we will place a fencing stake at each corner and frame the bed with chicken wire. I am not certain on height yet, maybe two feet. Six inches from the internal frame another stake and frame will stand. Now the fun part – use more river rock! Sandwiched in the wire walls we will stack more river rock and create a stone box to fill with compost, soil and tasty, tasty plants!

I am very excited to see this project finally coming together. Granted, Frank and I barely created a single bed of rocks this afternoon, but it is a start and I am proud of it.