This was not an easy year. Just months after Kelly’s Thanksgiving of 2016 aortic dissection and open heart surgery, my mom fell ill. After a painful struggle my mom passed in April.
These reminders of our mortality inspired the most prevalent theme themes on the blog this year: impermanence, the nature of stuff and the need to declutter. I reread Marie Kondo and fell deep into the words of Arts and Crafts movement luminaries John Ruskin, William Morris and Gustav Stickley. These folks had a lot to say about consumer culture, beauty and utility and they have inspired a top to bottom remodeling of our old house and garden that will continue into the coming year.
As to the garden, it fell into such a state of disrepair that we’ve decided to hire someone to help us clean things up and come up with plan. We’ll blog about the process and, if all goes well, have some before and after photos to share.
On a lighter note, we added a dog, Ivan, to our menagerie of household critters. A friend of ours, April, noted that he looks a lot like 70s prog-rocker Todd Rundgren.
In the fall I took some woodworking classes and created a workshop in one half of our garage. My workshop has become a sort of analog safe space, a place to escape the technological claws of the Silicon Valley tech bros who rob our time and track our every movement.
Lastly, some well deserved thanks go out to the Electronic Frontier Foundation for successfully cancelling the urban homestead trademark this year and freeing that phrase for all to use. I’d also like to thank Eric Rochow of Garden Fork for his ongoing support for our blog and podcast. There were many times this year when I did not feel like writing or putting together the podcast. Eric served both as an emergency guest and as an encouraging voice. And, of course, thank you all for reading our blog and listening to our podcast and for your many kind comments and emails.
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The Palestinian Table is a visual feast of stunning, authentic dishes that demonstrate the true depth of this cuisine. But this is more than just a cookbook; author Reem Kassis truly creates a sense of ‘place,’ exploring the importance of heritage and community through her recipes and stories.