Garden

Last weekend we had a wonderful turnout of helping hands in the garden. It was planting day and neighbors came out to get to work weeding, amending, pruning and yes, planting. Saturday morning turned out to be perfect weather for the work, with a light breeze and not the hard hitting heat.
We planted lettuce, peas, parsnips, beets, radishes, carrots, chard and much more! What a feast we will have available to us come this fall. For those of us who lingered, we were rewarded with a violin and piano serenade coming through a neighbor's window. I wish I had a sound bite on this page just to give you a feel for what we got to experience that morning. It was like none other and I have to say, it was a cohousing HIGH in my book!
Many thanks to the men and women of the community who helped.

Some Memorable Events...

Over this past year, we have had the privilege of participating in some really neat events here at La Querencia. I wanted to post a few pictures of the events related to the kids, since that is what my world is at this stage in my life! :) There are 3 events in particular that stand out to me and my family-the first being the Rocket Launching party!



George had the idea that the kids might enjoy building and then launching their own rockets. Why not, right? Well, the kids LOVED this idea! Each child who participated built and painted their own rocket. The day of the launch each kid got to shoot off their rocket and then go catch the parachuting top.


I love this picture, you can see the smoke from the rocket and the initial reaction from each person as they look to the sky!


Here is the crew of rocketeers! A memorable morning was had by all. Thanks George (and Neil for helping!) for making it happen!

The next memorable event here at La Q was a Kid's Water Day. Several families were returning from different vacations as well as new families joining our neighborhood. We thought it would be a good idea to get all the kids out on the lawn and have them meet and interact in a fun way.

First we had all the kids meet and tell us their names and one thing the LOVED!


Then it was time for the slip-n-slide. We also played a water balloon toss, and water balloon tag. Then it was time for a dip in the pool.

We not only had a great turnout of kids, but many of our other residents came out to enjoy the fun and watch the kids get wet! We finished the night off with popsicles for everyone.

Finally, though I know there will be more memorable moments to come yet this year, was our Movie by the Pool night. George came through again with another great idea: why not have a movie night by the pool? Awesome! We had a great turn out and the kids swam into the night while watching Toy Story 3.




My family just loves living here at La Querencia! My kids have found a home where they are accepted and loved for who they are. We see them interacting with people of all ages and learning life and social skills that will take them far beyond their years here at La Q. As a parent, that is a wonderful thing to watch. Cheers!
-Jen Schultz

Gorgeous new moon tonight, which brought about 10 of us out to sit and watch it rise, contemplate what it would be like to live in a world with 11 moons, like Jupiter, sing moon songs, enjoy the breeze coming off the ponding basin (our own "Lake La Querencia!") and enjoy each other's company--a cohousing moment!

Fresno Earth day 2011

April 30 – 11 am & 4 pm FREE and Open to the Public
Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno 2672 East Alluvial Clovis, CA 93611

Join the Fresno Earth Day Coalition for Earth Day 2011 at Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno.

This is the second year the Unitarian Universalist Church has hosted Fresno Earth Day. This successful event was well attended last year and has expanded this year. 2011 activities include over 75 participants, live music, local food, practical workshops, tours, exhibits, films, kids' activities, green car show, free e-waste recycling, solar cooking & bio-fuel making demonstrations, green car show, bike ride, walking tours - xeriscaping, green building tour, bird watching, vermiculture (earthworms), composting workshop, care for garden tools workshop, children’s activities, vegetarian cooking and paper making workshop, valet parking for bikes, Free Bike and Helmet Safety Checks and much more.

Additional Details:
Live Music includes: Lonesome Jem - Jem Bluestein and friends - Master of many kinds of American and European ethnic musics; Soul Kitchenette - organically-raised, free-range musicians who play highly sustainable rock/pop/soul music that you will find delicious; Heartland Harvest - Mixing traditional and contemporary folk, blue grass, old-timey, and other Americana - including funny stuff; Bound for Oblivion - a blues influenced rock trio. They do lots of original music, but also have lots of covers in their repertoire; Roscanna - a terrific traditional Irish music group

Practical Workshops: Paper; Raw foods; Composting; Care of garden tools; Bio fuels

Demonstrations / Displays: Vermiculture (garden worms); Solar cooking; Bio-diesel processing; E-cars; Wind turbines;
Bee hive; Solar power generation

Bikes: Bike ride to Fresno Earth Day from Tower Velo; Bike ride to Woodward Park; Bike helmet check; Bike safety check; Free valet bike parking.

Tours: Native plants / xeriscaping; Birdwatching: Green features of the Unitarian Universalist Church & Fresno Cohousing

Exhibits: Green businesses; Non-profit organizations; Faith -based organizations; Government agencies

Kids' Activities: Zoomobile; Hula Hoop weaving using old T-shirts; Seed Bombs; Coffee grounds; Recycle relay; Paper making

Green Car Show: Bio fuel vehicles; Electric and high fuel efficiency motorcycles; Hybrids

Free E-Waste Recycling (no additional wording per Steve)

A partial list of participants include: Food and Water Watch, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, City of Fresno Water Conservation Program, California Native Plant Society, Green Hope Veterans, ALA in California, GRID Alternatives, Fresno Chaffee Zoo, Save the Foothills Coalition, Fresno Audubon Society, Sierra Foothills Conservancy, Master Gardeners/UC Cooperative Extension, Tree Fresno, Sierra Club – Tehipite Chapter, Fresno Recycling Program, Fresno Chapter of Green Building Council, Fresno Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides, National Parks Conservation Association, Healthy Dairies Commission, Coalition for Clean Air, Community Food Bank, Heifer Int., CCROPP, Roots of Change, CSUF Organics Program, Critical Mass, Fresno Bike Coalition, Birchwood Conservancy, County of Fresno Recycling, Clovis Botanical Gardens, Fresno Wildlife Rehabilitation, Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control District, Sun Mountain Solar Cookers, Sierra Cat Haven, Mokichi Okada Association, Fresno SPCA, Restore the Delta, ReStore (Habitat for Humanity), Fresno Bike Kitchen, S.I.L.O., CSUF Organic Farm, LUCA - Latinos United for Clean Air , League of Women Voters and ABC Cooling and Heating, A La Mode - children's used clothing, Charlotte's Bakery, Hart's Haven, Intermountain Nursery, OFFLINE Solar Co., Real Goods Solar, Rustica Kollection, Shaklee, Squaw Valley Herb Gardens, T&D Willey Farms CSA, The Center for Mindfulness, Three Springs Community & Garden, Tower Velo, Urban Salvage Central Valley, Whole Farms Market, Educational Employees Credit Union, Holistic and Integrative Family Medicine, Halloran Dentistry, Casa de Tamales, Lucy’s Lair, Food Not Bombs, Revive Cafe and MANY, MANY MORE!

Autos confirmed for the green car show include: 2011 Nissan Leaf all electric 2005 biodiesel VW Beetle 2005 biodiesel Mercedes E-320 2002 Veggy oil converted VW Jetta 20?? Prius Plug-in Hybrid 2 X 2010 street legal Electric Carts Valectricar 2011 Chevy Volt plug-in electric hybrid 19?? Motorcycle to electric conversion 2012 Honda Insight Hybrid 2012 Honda Civic gas, high mpg 2008 Vectrix Motorcycle 2011 Smart Car Solar Toyota Prius CART High School Biodiesel Processor

Fresno Earth Day Coalition includes: Fresno Betsuin Buddhist Temple • Fresno Co. Bicycle Coalition • Fresno Metro Ministry • GreenFresno.org • Interfaith Social Justice Collaborative • Fresno Cohousing/La Querencia • San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust • Sierra Club Tehipite Chapter • Unitarian Universalist Church of Fresno.

For More info: www.fresnoearthday.org or 559.322.6146
Completely Solar Powered!
http://www.fresnoearthday.org/
559.322.6146

Please help us make this a well-attended event - post it on your facebook and twitter accounts.