Category Archives: Uncategorized

We are so proud of Teo and he was very pleased with the fact that he knows the song by himself now!

Have you ever wondered about the role chickens have played in the lives and culture of humans worldwide?

Dear Friends and Community:

El Cerrito is having a Community Meeting on August 31, 2010, regarding the City’s Animal Code and its proposed changes. These changes are specific to hens, bees, and other animals. This is the last community hearing before it goes to City Council for a vote.

WHEN: Tuesday, August 31st at 7pm

MORE INFO

I urge City residents, interested parties and particularly community leaders to come to this meeting and voice their support for the Revised Animal Code proposal. Specifically, the City needs to hear that homesteading activities such as keeping chickens are a growing movement nationally, provide food sources for people, and provide educational opportunities for families and children. El Cerrito prides itself in its support of a growing “green living” movement, as you can see on the City’s official website, and allowing homesteading practices such as the keeping of hens should be part of their goal.

I also prepared a document that supports El Cerrito’s Revised Animal Code, draft 8/18/10, particularly hen-keeping. Please let me know if you’d like a copy.

If you can’t make it to the meeting on August 31, please email me, stating your support of the Animal Code, whether in its entirety or specific parts of it (like hen-keeping). I will include this list of El Cerrito residents and other parties wh support the Revised Animal Code at the end of my document. I will be submitting this document as part of my (our) show of support for the revised code, at the meeting.

If you live near El Cerrito and care about how its laws affect your own city’s ordinances or how you do business with El Cerrito residents (are you a gardener, landscaper, chicken coop builder?), it’s in your interest that El Cerrito amends its current Animal Code.

PLEASE – pass this information along to anyone else whom you think would be supportive of the Revised Animal Code, so that they can show their support. You can read the Revised Animal Code in its entirety on El Cerrito’s website: http://www.el-cerrito.org/planning/animal.html. This is our chance to make some much welcome changes within El Cerrito!

You are always welcome to some free eggs from us (if we haven’t eaten them all)!

Thanks for your support,
Maria

Joannie is someone I’ve never met, but I learned about her through a mutual friend. Her story has really touched me. She was so young, and pregnant with twins when she was diagnosed with stomach cancer. She gave birth to them last month and then lost her battle to the disease.

Joannie’s memorial will take place at the Kaiser Rooftop Garden on August 28th from 3-5pm. The garden is located at 300 Lakeside Drive,
Oakland, CA 94620. (There will be free parking in the attached garage, and easy access to the rooftop via elevator in the garage). Donations are also welcome by the family and her two babies.

Really intriguing article on what is in breast milk.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/05/breastfeeding.costs/index.html?hpt=Sbin

A good read !

The boys certainly have classes they attend (judo and music) but they also have so much free time at home and in their play-based school. Most of our friends have huge backyards so when the kids have playdates, they can get lost on their own for hours at a time.

It’s sad that bullying linked to lack of socialization through freeplay.