Roxanne Sterling-Astor

Single 62y omni creative woman.  Interested in meeting someone living the artist permie life... cause that's my vibe. I'm not exactly looking for anything serious, but I wouldn't count it out. Taking time to become friends first.
Searching to buy a place. A dirt cheap old house with good land for gardens. Pennsylvania, NY Virginia, totally undecided until I get there. I'm a restaurant vet & gardener. Cook, Baker, Yogurt maker 😆.. a gardener and nursery mam.. ran seed swaps for years, and was a contract grower of herbs and seedings..etc. Took a class with Sepp Holzer about 6 years ago in Loma Mar California. A truly great experience.
Now, I am designing fabric and have a huge online portfolio of my patterns. Politically left, but absolutely not hippier than tho...
My deal breaker; I won't deal with people into porn or prostitutes (the reason for my divorce and ex husbands bankruptcy), or macho men of any stripe. Strong yes, smart yes, funny, no way, get outta here.
If you're in N.J., N.Y.,PA. Man, woman, non binary, and you're interested in having a beer or going to a museum .. a low pressure hang out, say hi. Let's be friends.

P.S. Revised from 7 months ago. Worth mentioning it's also on my radar to find a communal living situation, until I figure out where exactly I would like to buy.

My mind went immediately to my paper mache projects. The sculptures are difficult to store because of molds that can take hold. Honey!!! In the slurry & in the paints. New experiment starting over here. I'm totally embracing this, I'll show results.
Thanks,
Roxanne

If there is a hummingbird thread with info on successive blooming suggestions to keep hummingbirds fed naturally, point me there.
While I am here tho; does anyone have suggestions for a perennial that will bloom in  July August that will provide nectar for hummingbirds.
I live in Southern Oregon with some snowy winters. I have deer, so deer resistant would be great. I have a trumpet vine ready to plant it has been getting trimmed by deer since it's not had a tall place to climb up just yet. I do have high hopes for that.
Love to hear what you suggest.. As for annuals,  we can't plant out till June here and I have limited sun till May, conversely my sun cuts out mid Sept.  Hot dry half sun all summer.
Cheers,
Roxanne

Datura!!!
I  lived in an old house with a massive Datura.. one of the rooms had blooms coming up to the second story. Every single person who had that room went crazy having started out as pleasant quite normal.. truly went mad.. hallucinations violent outbursts etc. A friend from Shri Lanka said after meeting the current tenant of the room, saw the Datura out his window .. told me immediately "you have to cut that thing down don't you know they are toxic?" "I think he's already sick"
Honestly it all clicked in that moment.. the landlord was really crazy too.. It came down that week. An antidote, but it convinced me for life.

Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins anyone?
I have longed to smell that after reading that book. 😅

Shooting from the hip here.. Folks who live in cold climates and have the know how are the best folks to bring this to the people.  I see a Rocket Heater booth at Christmas Fairs, Tool shows, Building industry conferences.. Someone with freedom to be a professional cheerleader,  by freedom I'm referring to someone retired from the daily grind with an income unconnected to rocket heating tech.  I  remember seeing a portable demo heater here on Permies.. we need MORE of those.. all over the country.
Second flash.. a team of permies elves build warm public benches in NYC.. BOSTON COMMONS, CHICAGO, SEATTLE, DETROIT, BUFFALO,  CLEAVLAND. In the cold cities, go to city hall meetings and ask to do a permanent public installations. Obviously it's imperative it be accompanied by a perfectly artful bronze plaque explaining the technology (the magical guts) a real blueprint in bronze. Imagine bus stations with RMH benches, cafés with comfy outdoor seating... etc
Getting RMH into public spaces is the key.
Another! Extremely high quality stencils of a RMH blueprint, large and legible. I'm suggesting guerrilla, information sharing, street art. I'd absolutely buy a well-made jumbo stencil.  I already buy them every few months for my artwork and jobs. The biggest ones sell for about 70 bucks. That would take someone who would want to figure out how to manufacture quality stencils, or finding a company who does custom work.  Screen printing is also good for some surfaces.  I have done screen printing on regular painted sheet rock with great results.  So let's say I have one of these.. I will go to a local Cafe and ask to do an art installation that teaches people about RMH, talk to science teachers at school,  health food stores, feed stores.. adding additional art with the blueprint would be fantastic,  that can also be a series of coordinating stencils. This sort of sharing would require a talented artist willing to create the base images for free.
A fundraiser in your local area could fund the public projects.. perhaps working with food bank volunteers could help connect with agencies that give aid to the elderly and other community members who care about promoting low cost solutions to help people maintain general health and well being.
I'd throw in my $25 bucks to a fundraiser to build more portable RMH to take to trade shows (and the likes) or any other permanent public installation someone might take on.
Cheers everyone,
Roxanne

One thing I was taught ages ago was to avoid too much fruit.. as a farm helper I was asked not to give too many fruit scraps to chickens .. with the explanation that it can reduce egg count.  Which led to stern instruction to take apple cores back to the kitchen and simmer them with a cinnamon stick, strain and serve.. yum. This of course may not be your issue.. tho hopefully a useful tid bit.

I used the dashboards of an old truck and a station wagon like that once, a wild lot with zero infrastructure but lots of dead cars. It worked for keeping seeds protected at night and from birds until my beds were built.
I think you'd have to make a huge sun roof for anything long term

Congratulations on your book Susan! What a timely subject! I am a big bean lover, I have been growing beans for shelling, ever since I went on vacation one spring and the friend who watered for me didn't pick any beans while I was away... came home to one heck of a seed crop!
I discovered the blue lakes made a very tender quick cooking bean for white hummus! I decided then my crop yielded a longer lived staple in the form of dry beans, I became far less concerned about green beans. A big FAT Roma being the exception 😉... and honestly my white whale. I've yet to find the variety I remember from the 60's in New Jersey.
Maybe it's like so many things from childhood they seemed bigger, because I was smaller.
Welcome to Permies!! Better than any encyclopedia!
Roxanne Sterling

Bearded Irises, we had them all along the driveway in our house in NJ. The woman who lived next-door was (in hindsight) was the source of our absolutely stuffed bed... her place was terraced with stones and it was all Irises.  When the blooms were full-on the SMELL!!!
I have one enduring memory of playing my tiny guitar singing at the top of my tiny lungs... the current hit song in 1968ish? on every radio "Tip Toe Through the Tulips"  while actually tip toeing through the thickly planted bed... changing the word tulip for iris of course!
This childhood memory brought to you just a month shy of my 60th birthday.. plants are life long friends, just like those friends whose company is free and easy even after years away from each other. Make new friends my friends, and be especially grateful for the first friends you made in this life... be it plant, animal or human.
Love you all for being true plant nerds.
🌷😉