Pi Day at Sunwise

March 14th: Sunwise celebrates Pi day -- yes, it's gluten free.  In addition to the beautiful cherry pie, we enjoyed a cabbage pie in a philo pastry and Marina's tiny strawberry pie.  The chefs present their work:

Potlucks Thursday Night @ Sunwise

Thursday nights are potlucks at Sunwise!  You might find a slightly bigger crowd and a couple more children around Sunwise if you stop by our normal 6:30 dinner on a Thursday evening.  In addition to preparing our usual meal for housemates and guests, our Thursday cooks Alex and April have extended their invitation to bring a simple dish and join us for a dinner that has become popular with Marina's school friends and more.  All are welcome!

New housemates at Sunwise!

We're very happy to welcome Alex and her daughter Marina to Sunwise!  We're already seeing some changes and learning a lot from them: our dinners have been moved up to 6:30p, and now we have the first indoor pet at Sunwise for some time: a charismatic rat named Marshmellow. 

Olive harvest!

It's olive harvesting time in Davis! Last weekend housemates at Sunwise joined the community picking efforts around campus and gathered 42 Lb of olives, enough to make 3 quarts of fresh olive oil. More olive picking for drying and eating now underway! Below, Erica and Ashely perfect their harvesting strategies.

Cats and Meetings

Another great reason for making it to those long board meetings at J Street:

Yes, that's right, a cute and friendly cat will curl up on your lap and fall asleep purring softly.  This is Coo, who has been a J street resident for a couple months, making him by no means the newest J street resident but certainly the envy of every Sunwiser (including those too allergic to live with such cuteness!)


Rumor has it that there's a lot going on in SCHA right now, building a new co-op and managing interns and outreach and all.  Apparently there's even a new fancy-smancy web-page being built: currently you can preview it at http://www.schadavis.wordpress.com before it goes live on the web at the official http://www.schadavis.org address; but you've all ready found the home of the real news in these houses.  Bike rides to Winters, picking and pressing olives for oil, and a Sunwise early thanksgiving all coming up.

Saga of Pete the Rooster

When Sunwise started raising four chicks this past Spring, no one knew what to expect.  No one, that is, except our neighbor Scarlet's little nephew.  You see, Scarlet was helping us raise the four chicks, and named each one of them according to their color.  Except her nephew insisted this little dark chick be called Pete, despite the supposed near-guarantee that they were all hens.  Well, he knew.

Little Pete grew and grew, and soon none of us could deny that cock-a-doodle-do in the morning or the way he strutted around the coop.  Roosters aren't exactly included in regulations, and his morning habits would soon prove a challenge to many.

We tried many things.  He was carefully boxed up in the coop each night, to be released only at a decent hour.  We spoke to local farms to see if they would take him, but none could promise that more than a stew-pot awaited.  We resigned ourself to his fate and scheduled a good friend to come over and give him the final rites of his kind.

Then on the same day, the student farm replied that they had recently lost their rooster!  Pete was saved! This morning, Derek took the lucky bird to his new home.  Derek writes:

The Pete saga (as far as Sunwise goes) is over. He has had many firsts today:

• first time being caught as an adult
• first time being put in a box
• first time in a car in a box
• first time in a moving car in a box
• first time he did not make any sounds for more than 30 minutes
• first time seeing his new home (Ecological Garden at Student Farm....who knows, maybe you'll hear him if you are on that side of campus)
• first time he gets his wings clipped (I have a feather for each of you)
• first time he takes a crap at his new home
• first time he meets the Student Farm hens
• first time he'll "Cock-a-doodle-doooooo"s on campus

Last time I mention Pete in an email...

Thanks for being patient with our rooster friend!

Passing of the Sun

We've turned the lights off. The buzz of the sauna party hits a momentary pause, one more group of towel wrapped guests shuffles in and eyes turn to Andy holding a candle and a large plastic sun -- once rescued from a dump and now a rather functional bookend in the cookbook library and erstwhile symbol of the house. Derek explains the tradition: the departing member of Sunwise passes the sun to the incoming resident, welcoming them into the house.

Andy, our dear friend and resident of Sunwise since his birthday, (May 4th 2009), is now moving on to a new job in Seattle. Andy has brought great things to Sunwise and we hope many will live on as traditions -- from his beer-brewing to his passion for board games to the nature videos on Friday evenings. Other things will be irreplaceable: the smile from the breakfast table as he looks up from his book, always an early riser. His hippie loaf and salsa recipes have been added to the Sunwise cookbook, and his brewmaster log has been carefully photocopied, but will miss his company, his relaxed optimism, and unshakable good humor. Last but certainly not least, we'll miss that mobile sauna so!

He passes the sun to the newest Sunwiser who will take his place in April. auspiciously named April. Welcome to Sunwise, April!

Chicken Tractor!

The Sunwise chicken tractor in action taking down weeds and bugs before the start of summer planting.  Derek made sure to test it out before the chicken!

Game Nights!

J Streeters hosted a game night on Thursday!   Sunwisers went for another epic of Seafaring in Settlers of Catan Friday night.  Caught in the action: a bold move into the deep reveals -- more empty ocean!  At Sunwise, Settlers remains a popular game, though new games such as Bonanza, and Tigris and Euphrates have made recent appearances. 

A Sauna arrives at Sunwise!

Braving torrential rains and just beating the snows, Andy returns from the North trailering a hand-build wooden sauna!  With over 200 hours of labor invested in the thing, it sure looks sharp, though a bit more to finish the interior.  We're all impressed he made this happen!  Come and see what it's all about!

Sunwise Nostalgia

A great idea to start a blog and share posts!

Question for you all: what was the most unusual topic that you found consensus on at a house meeting?
My personal favorite after at least an hour discussion with house-guests present and listening in: it is not permitted to pee in the sink, though you may pee in the compost pile in a pinch. The compost will benefit from nitrogen though the salinity will go up as well. The sink is where people wash produce and their faces...

Welcome to the SCHA Blog!

This little guy greeted me on Saturday morning as I prepared to make breakfast for workday!  Squash being put to good use.  Now he welcomes you to the SCHA blog, a place for us to share tidbits of our lives, projects, and adventures at the Sunwise and J-st Co-ops!