Victory Book Club: The Yonahlossee Riding Club by Anton DiSclafani, 2013

I won’t lie; I picked this novel up at the library because of the cover. I know, don’t judge a book by its cover, right? How could I pass up a book when the first words I see in the flap are “It is 1930” with a photo of a girl in riding boots smoking a cigarette?

Theodora Atwell is 15 and being sent away to the Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. Previously, Thea had lived a secluded life in central Florida with her mother, father and twin brother Sam. Their secluded life kept them away from feeling the struggles of the depression unless they were in town shopping or enjoying the occasional visit from her aunt, uncle and Cousin Georgie.

Assigned to Augusta House, for the first time Thea is living in close quarters with 5 roommates from different parts of the country and walks of life. In their all white uniforms, the girls at the riding camp are generally from wealthy families with the exception of the occasional girl on scholarship. Aside from Mr. Holmes, the headmaster, and a few other men working the camp, the girls rarely see boys except for their yearly dance.

Thea’s adjustment to camp life is told alongside the story of her past that led her to be sent away to the equestrian boarding school. Thea’s story is more complex than a simple coming of age story who loves riding horses. She holds a secret that is slowly revealed along with her own character flaws. Whatever her parents may have tried to shelter her from in their secluded home managed to reach their daughter, transforming her from girl to woman.

This book is unexpectedly sexy, which caught me a bit off guard, especially since I did not read the entire dust jacket. Be prepared to dislike many of the characters; this is not a heartfelt coming of age story. I’m not sure if there is even a moral learned at the end. While I did enjoy reading it, I had trouble connecting with any of the characters. I found myself thinking something was wrong with many of them, but this might just be part of the darkness that comes along with the story.

A Place I Live: OC Harvest Club

 I don’t want to spend too much time rehashing the past, but one of the ways I spent my time while on my blogging hiatus was volunteering. Awhile ago I had signed up for The Harvest Club of Orange County’s email list and every time they had a volunteer opportunity in my area it was either full or on a day that I had something going on. I finally had the chance to attend my first harvest just under the wire for the last harvests of 2013 and it was pretty awesome.

So what’s this Harvest Club you ask? It’s pretty simple. A group of harvesters show up at a location (usually residential) and pick fruit or veggies to their hearts content. The boxes of harvested food are delivered to a food bank and used to feed the needy. How great is that?

Along with 5 other volunteers and our harvest captain we gleaned beautiful yellow lemons from one of the biggest lemon trees I have ever seen. There were large lemons, weirdly shaped lemons and tons that were still green and would be ready for picking in a month or so. Neighbors stopped by to see what was going on and to see if they might not walk away with a handful of lemons for themselves. We filled up 5 boxes, or approximately 200 pounds of lemons, that were delivered to a local church to help feed over 500 people.

If you are wondering why the lemons didn’t end up at a food bank, I’ll tell you. A majority of Orange County citrus is under quarantine because of citrus diseases. Because of this, citrus should be contained to the area it is grown in to not contaminate other trees. I’ll be honest and say that I like that the quarantine forces the food to be used where it was grown and harvested. The fruits of my labor are going to help feed people that live near me – that contribution feels extra good.

Not convinced yet that you should volunteer as a harvester? After 120 harvests in 2013 over 50,000 pounds of fruit was donated to help feed the community. If you don’t want to get your hands dirty, the Harvest Club recruits scouts and ambassadors that reach out to neighbors with fruiting trees to donate their harvest. If you have a tree bursting with fruit or tons of veggies be sure to sign up as a grower. Come on, are you really going to eat all those oranges on your tree? Share a little.

Please Excuse the Dust

Now that the dust has settled my brain is a lot less fuzzy. I haven’t been writing much because I have been at odds with how I want to continue The Sunshine Grove blog. I have all of these ideas and didn’t think they fit in with what The Sunshine Grove had become. Then I remembered, The Sunshine Grove is my creation and can be whatever I want it to be. And so it will be.

I don’t want to write following SEO guideline to get more hits, join a bunch of linky parties to network with other bloggers or feel pressed to comment all over the blog-o-sphere for more followers. Readers are important. Without them what would be the grand point of blogging? I want people to come read The Sunshine Grove because they want to read what I have to share. I felt like I was writing posts for the type of readers I thought I wanted. With this revamp I may very well lose some readers, but I might gain some new ones too and that’s fine with me.

While I was at it I cleaned house. I stopped following blogs that made me feel bad about my blog. You know the ones that had better photos than me, that posted a similar DIY project before I got around to do it or blogs that make doing it all look so easy. I was wasting so much time online looking at what I wanted to be like instead of being what I wanted to be. Blogging just wasn’t fun anymore!

Truth be told I haven’t read a blog post from blogs I follow since way back in September of last year. Is admitting that deadly for blogs I follow that follow me back? I hope not, because I follow some really awesome blogs. I just needed a break, ok?

From blogging that is. I did plenty with the end of 2013. I started a new job, was part of the Anaheim Halloween Parade committee, worked on a stop motion animation commercial, read a ton of books, canned for the holidays, supported my small local businesses and survived the holidays. Clearly I was busy.

But not too busy to start thinking of how The Sunshine Grove was going to grow with me. I’ve been changing the way I live my life. Do you remember last March when I visited the Natural Products Expo West and talked about the parallels between vintage and natural living? That’s a bit of what’s been going on here at the Grove. Maybe this makes me a vintage granola? Hopefully I’m still crunchy.

So what’s going to be new?

There will more about vintage living but in a different light. I’m not talking about vintage outfits or how to comb victory rolls. It’s about the nitty-gritty of vintage life, a simpler life. Victory gardens, preserving food, using natural products and trying to really reconnect with that old fashion school of thought that less is more.

What’s staying?

A Place I Live is just going to grow out of control. Anaheim is going through such an amazing revitalization and I’m very excited to share all of these changes. The best part is that the city is embracing its history and incorporating it into its transformation.

I had wonderful responses to my history posts about places and vintage things I’ve found that I will continue to share what I find. For those who have a similar love of Ranch homes I have some great treasures to share including 1950s and 1960s paint swatches and décor ideas for The Ranch onOrange.

Since my nose is always in a book expect more book reviews from Victory Book Club. Suggestions are always welcome as long as I can find it at the library.

Thanks for hanging in there during the transition. I love your comments and feedback so keep them coming with the new posts! And Happy New Year!

 

Livin’ the Real Life at the OC Fair

It’s been quiet here on the blog because we’ve been spending lots of time at the OC Fair. Earlier this summer we were asked to be part of the Orange County Fair’s Culinary Art exhibit. Remember last year when I raved about the “There’s No Place Like Home” exhibit building? That’s where we were invited to display our designs! This year’s theme was “Get Real” which included DIY as it relates to food. Since expanding The Sunshine Grove to include Sustainable Sam’s wood planters and gardening consultation it was a perfect event for us to join.

We were given our own corner of the OC Promenade with a rustic corrugated metal background and the freedom to build our own display. We’d never built a permanent display, let alone one with so much room. We loved how our wood designs popped off the metal background and we added splashes of color by displaying vintage linens and house ware items from the shop. The biggest challenge was getting  visitors to come into our booth which we solved by pulling our display table out of the booth while we were there to greet fair goers.

After having read Palisades Park I was excited to experience the behind the scene and building of the fair. Nothing was more exciting than to see how the fair came to life so quickly. During the 3 days it took us to set our display up, we saw so much more arriving and being built. Many of the food concessionaires arrived first and then the rides and games were built up around them.

Our first day was a whirlwind because the first hour is free admission on opening day. Last year we were fair goers and took advantage of the free entrance. It was a totally different experience being an exhibitor. Arriving early, making sure everything was in its place and then waiting for the wave of people was exciting. We loved getting to talk to people about gardening, especially those who are already passionate about growing edible gardens. The big conversation piece in our booth was actually a patty pan squash plant that we grew in a grain bag. Since we needed a way to grow, transport and then display the squash for 5 weeks, the grain bag was a wonderful solution, but it also amazed many people that it could be used as a container for gardening.  

The Culinary Arts building had a stage for presentations and culinary judging as well as a Make Shop and Show and Tell area. Jeremy braved the stage opening weekend with his DIY Pallet to Planter demo, and hosted a plant your own string beans workshop at the Make Shop. Our friends from TheMakery and Creative Outlet Studio had fun crafts at the Make Shop as well. Since the Show and Tell area was just across from our display I had the opportunity to learn preserving and canning techniques from Master Food Preservers ChefRenee Fontes and Chef Earnest Miller. I even got to take home some grape jelly from Chef Renee which was delicious. 

Did we mention our ribbons?

Don’t worry; I made time to visit the Alaskan Pig Races, as well as the newborn piglets at Centennial Farms. As always visiting the animals was high on my to-do list, especially the angora goats – my personal favorite! We also made sure to participate in Anaheim Day by wearing shirts showing off our city pride. I should also add that we were on our best behavior when it came to the notorious food, though we did enjoy petite funnel cakes during the one of the Friday “Taste of the Fair” events and giant corn dogs on the final day.

As fast as it was set up, the fair was torn down. Three days after the final day the grounds are almost empty again, as if nothing happened. As we drove away with the last pieces of our display yesterday we said goodbye to the fair and can only cross our fingers that we are invited to participate again next year. A big thank you goes out to Chef Renee Fontes along with the rest of the Culinary Arts staff, all of whom were amazing and helpful.

Victory Book Club: Over the Top by Arthur Guy Empey, 1917

 

During our Christmas vacation in Maine, we hit up a few antique malls for things that only the East Coast can provide. Though I didn't have a whole lot of luck overall, I did leave the state with a book, Over the Top. Written by Arthur Guy Empey, an American that enlisted with the British army during World War I, Over the Top provides a first hand account of trench warfare as a Yankee fighting side by side with British 'Tommies'. Some reviews call it propaganda, though I think that classification was inspired more by how the book was used to recruit more soldiers than the original intent of the author.

Frustrated by America's inaction after the sinking of the Lusitania, Sergeant Empey goes to England in order to answer the call to war which America had not yet agreed to. His approach to sharing the trials and atrocities of trench warfare is blunt and matter of fact, yet with a certain lighthearted delivery which comes across as the attitude required to keep from losing all hope in horrible circumstances. From the frankness of the British Quartermaster issuing him his equipment to the almost flippant way of referring to all the ways that a Tommy could get killed or injured by 'Fritz', their German counterparts in this struggle, Empey paints a vivid and very real picture of what a trench soldier's life was all about.

Some of the book gets pretty grim and at some points almost unbelievable, yet at no time did I feel that Empey was exaggerating the facts of his war. The struggle he and his fellow soldiers endured was honestly shared with an openess I assume comes from being witness to such atrocities without going insane.

Not only do I have a new perspective of how people are able to deal with violence and fear, but also how they have the will to do what they believe is right regardless of the possible consequences. Though Over the Top is almost 100 years old, it can still teach a lesson about the human spirit.