http://www.tallcloverfarm.com Homeward bound on Puget Sound. Putting in a good day on Vashon Island time. Wed, 16 May 2012 17:03:31 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.3 http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/6160/pizza-pizza-helping-karen-kickstart-her-dream http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/6160/pizza-pizza-helping-karen-kickstart-her-dream#comments Wed, 16 May 2012 16:37:56 +0000 Tom http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/?p=6160 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } Karen and some stylin’ chicks Dreams, like pizza, come in all shapes and sizes; some are spicy, others mild, some large, others bite-size. My dear friend Karen Biondo has a delicious dream, to go mobile with her pizza oven and bring pie to the people. And considering her wood-fired pizza oven weighs over two tons, [...]

]]> http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/6160/pizza-pizza-helping-karen-kickstart-her-dream/feed 2 http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/6129/dogwood-bough-under-a-big-dipper-sky http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/6129/dogwood-bough-under-a-big-dipper-sky#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 17:15:18 +0000 Tom http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/?p=6129 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } My front porch is for company, the back porch for me. It’s my take-five spot, a compact stoop just barely big enough for a big guy and two big bulldogs. The paint-deprived rail supports an arm’s reach and everything from a cup of coffee to a cordial to a tumbler of ice tea. In the [...]

]]> http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/6129/dogwood-bough-under-a-big-dipper-sky/feed 15 http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5866/there-she-goes-a-parable-of-perspective http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5866/there-she-goes-a-parable-of-perspective#comments Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:25:08 +0000 Tom http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/?p=5866 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } “There she goes!”  Adventuress, Admiralty Inlet, Washington Years ago, while hiking the bluffs and trails of Ebey’s Landing’s , my friend Joan and I happened across a pioneer cemetery. Perched high above Puget Sound, fronted by miles of shoreline, meadows, and farmland, the well-placed site enjoyed sweeping views so beautiful and heavenly that I’d venture [...]

]]> http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5866/there-she-goes-a-parable-of-perspective/feed 10 http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5684/free-sign-of-the-the-times http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5684/free-sign-of-the-the-times#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:01:35 +0000 Tom http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/?p=5684 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } Fashioned from a paint sample drywall scrap, one of my best free signs was also one of my most quickly pinched. Vashon Islanders have many quirks. (Just ask someone from Seattle.) As a community of free spirits, our behavior and island traditions often beg for scrutiny from those unfamiliar with our island ways. Case in [...]

]]> http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5684/free-sign-of-the-the-times/feed 20 http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5486/a-place-between-too-little-and-too-much http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5486/a-place-between-too-little-and-too-much#comments Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:35:17 +0000 Tom http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/?p=5486 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } Recently my friend Erik shared some Finnish wisdom: Onnelisuus on se paikka puuttuvaisuuden ja yltäkylläisyyden välillä. What’s that, your Finno-Ugric language skills aren’t what they used to be? Roughly translated, that amazing string of chewy consonants and voluptuous vowels states: Happiness is a place between too little and too much. What a beautiful thought. And even [...]

]]> http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5486/a-place-between-too-little-and-too-much/feed 15 http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5439/jonny-awesome-and-his-truck-of-trees http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5439/jonny-awesome-and-his-truck-of-trees#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:38:12 +0000 Tom http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/?p=5439 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } Jon can do anything, a pronouncement I believe wholeheartedly. During a recent house project requiring his help, Jon or Jonny Awesome as I liked to call him, became my home improvement superhero–able to add mixed fractions and board feet in a single bound, prizing perfection and a job well done above expediency and filling squares. [...]

]]> http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5439/jonny-awesome-and-his-truck-of-trees/feed 17 http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/4814/wjs-sweater-a-gift-of-warmth http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/4814/wjs-sweater-a-gift-of-warmth#comments Tue, 13 Dec 2011 19:11:39 +0000 Tom http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/?p=4814 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } Not sure if Boz is cuddling up to me or the cashmere. Last September, summer’s extended stay gave notice to the night with a persistent chill insinuating itself on our outdoor gathering. While my friends Nancy and Scarlett had decorated their gazebo and garden table in floral and fabric finery, dinner guests came prepared, outfitted [...]

]]> http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/4814/wjs-sweater-a-gift-of-warmth/feed 22 http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5196/travel-log-big-board-small-question http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5196/travel-log-big-board-small-question#comments Mon, 14 Nov 2011 16:06:03 +0000 Tom http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/?p=5196 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } While searching for fir floor boards at Forest Stewards mill yard, I came across the most amazing rough-cut board, a fir behemoth about four inches thick, 18 feet long, and heavier than a middle-age man’s back should endure. Cole, the mill manager, said he’d give me a deal on it as the board thickness was [...]

]]> http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5196/travel-log-big-board-small-question/feed 46 http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5184/a-salute-to-my-favorite-veteran http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5184/a-salute-to-my-favorite-veteran#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:32:19 +0000 Tom http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/?p=5184 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } Captain Dad and his trusty steed (F-100) on the flightline. I grew up loving a veteran: my Dad, a larger than life man who flew jets from the time I could finger paint until the time I could vote. His Air Force career spanned three decades and covered the globe (sometimes with us, and sometimes [...]

]]> http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5184/a-salute-to-my-favorite-veteran/feed 17 http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5131/postcards-from-the-edge-of-autumn http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5131/postcards-from-the-edge-of-autumn#comments Sat, 29 Oct 2011 16:34:52 +0000 Tom http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/?p=5131 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } Fall colors fade fast in the Pacific Northwest, but I can always count on my Glenora grape leaves to stick around. (The grapes are another story.) With Autumn storms come fallen branches, a sure sign that my madrona branch fence will grow in the weeks to come. (Boz caught in the act of eating baby [...]

]]> http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/5131/postcards-from-the-edge-of-autumn/feed 22 http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/4774/a-couple-more-lessons-from-summer http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/4774/a-couple-more-lessons-from-summer#comments Sat, 01 Oct 2011 18:03:15 +0000 Tom http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/?p=4774 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } A followup to my post: 10 Things I Learned This Summer Summer is too generous a season to limit my learning curve to a wee bunny slope. A mere 10 lessons to be learned, I think not. As I sit at my kitchen table ignoring autumn’s various and persistent calling cards, I ponder a few [...]

]]> http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/4774/a-couple-more-lessons-from-summer/feed 19 http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/4761/10-things-i-learned-this-summer http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/4761/10-things-i-learned-this-summer#comments Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:16:26 +0000 Tom http://www.tallcloverfarm.com/?p=4761 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } Lesson for all seasons: take time to enjoy the view (Mt. Rainier from Vashon Island). Every season holds class for those who wish to attend, the hours in the day become pragmatic little teachers of simple truths and homegrown examples. This summer I tried to be a good student, and pay attention in class. Here’s [...]

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