Congratulations to some hard dancing dancers! Nina Martinez from Australia and Cinzia DeCoccia from Italy completed Collective Soul Level Three here in my little home town in Oregon! That takes time and dedication to get this far in my certification program, so

woo hoo to them! Awesome…

And if that wasn’t enough, Hilary Giovale from Arizona and Amanda Richardson from Wisconsin flew out to complete Teacher Training Level Three with Nina, and then all four of them continued on with CS4! They are the first to have completed this level of intensive study with me (except my own dancers, of course!)I’m impressed and amazed at the level of commitment these beautiful dancers have shown, lots of focus and stamina goes into this type of training, but I might add, a lot of laughs and good times too. What a lovely international connection these women have made, and to dance together is such a high, a joy, a passion…

Dance on sisters…

and thank you for your trust, loyalty, and desire to be the best dancers and women you can be. You are…

Ok, let me hear it for next month’s D-Quad.
Delicious Divas Dancing Dreams…our dancing writer’s forum. This is a place to share your thoughts and inspirations about your dance, maybe art work and photographs if you care to share those too! Once yearly I publish an anthology of the year’s collections, which comes out in the Fall.

Next month’s entrees due May 10th, can you write it down for us? Don’t be shy. And if not to share, at least write it down for yourself.

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Here is something for you to think and write about. In the recent past, we have discussed how dancer’s move on from teachers, and into and out of troupes, friends, relationships.

Find out what is is about what you witness that strikes you as something you want in your own life. When you see a great dancer or troupe, what are the qualities that you want to possess for yourself? Take a pen and paper, right now, and quickly without thinking too hard or editing yourself, list five things about that person or that dance/art form that speak out to you. Do it. Now, look at those five things. How can you bring those up from inside yourself? And manifest them into your art form?

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Bring it on, writers and dancers!

Thanks for sharing….

WOW…

May 1, May day at McMenamin’s Kennedy School
GCDC performs with
the Ripe Fig Rhythms and Lynea Gillen, 5:30-6:30,
and also with Raquy and the Cavemen, 4:30-5:30

5736 N.E. 33rd Ave

http://www.mcmenamins.com/427-kennedy-school-home
join us! all ages, no cover…

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May 14, 15th, 16 th, GCDC at
Tribal Fest in California!
Gypsy Caravan and friends are performing Saturday at 6pm…
also, Paulette’ workshop is Sunday morning…

http://www.blacksheepbellydance.com/tf10/index.html

for more, check out our web pages…

Hello lovely friends of Cultivator General Store, and happy earth day to you all…

I meant to write this yesterday to you all, but we were slammed busy at the shop, unloading about 50 boxes of beautiful fresh produce—artichokes, strawberries, portobella mushrooms, and much more—
and we will soon be carrying more of our local produce from our hardworking farmers right here in Clatskanie. Yea!
We also got in boxes of beautiful cheeses— I was so hungry unpacking fresh mozzarella balls, more haloumi, cheddar chipotle, the shelves are jammed tight with cheesey goodness! Plus more crackers, chips, pastas, chocolates, gluten-free breads, not to mention new varieties of wine and beer. (are you hungry yet? think Humboldt Fog cheese paired with a dab of quince paste and a glass of your favorite) Jeff and I can’t wait to share them all with you.
Our baked goods and lunches went over so well this week, and miss Heidi has more yummy sweet treats in store for you today too.
Dont’ forget our wine tasting tonight (and every Friday) from 5-7 pm. In honor of Earth Day, we will be sampling some delectable organic and biodynamic wines from Italy, France, and California. $5.00 for 5 tastes. Have a fabulous nibble of olives and almonds and goodies while you are enjoying the wine too.
We are getting more choices every week, and I am finding some wines with no sulfites too.

So in honor of earth day, please bring your reusable grocery bag when you come shopping. We even got some wonderfully colorful grocery bags yesterday for you to purchase if you don’t have one.
And to learn more about what you can do for our great planet earth, check out these pages if you have a minute:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-earth-day-not-rocket-science-eco-abcs.html

Jeff and I, and our fabulous staff, Heidi, Laurita, Brett, and Jani, thank you all again for your excitement and support of the Cultivator. We want you to eat well, be happy, and keep our community thriving!
See you there…
Paulette

EVENTS:
**Coffee tasting Saturday, May 1st, 11 am, with Marcus from Batdorf and Bronson coffee roasters,
(and Jeff will be playing music later that day at Kennedy School in Portland with the Ripe Fig Rhythms and Gypsy Caravan Dance Company at 5:30–an action packed day!)
**Special wine tasting with Scott and Marty Denis, from Uncorked NW, first Thursday, May 6th, 5-7 pm, tasting wines of France!

Paulette
Cultivator General Store
503-728-3496

all things good–local, organic, sustainable, yummy…
wines, cheeses, coffee, produce, fresh-baked goodies, home lovelies, and funky eclectic farmgirl delights!

302 N. Nehalem St.
Clatskanie, OR 97016

I have not written with a One More Thing for several weeks, and so I wanted to share this story and link with you. Donations, even small ones, can be so helpful for those who can spend their time fighting for good causes, so I urge you to  donate to this cause in helping save the baby seals from slaughter, a senseless act of killing.

https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Donation2?df_id=3480&3480.donation=form1&autologin=true

The Protectseals team is in Newfoundland, bearing witness to the tragic slaughter of survivors. Despite the worst ice conditions in decades already claiming the lives of countless seal pups, the Canadian government has done the unthinkable: It’s raised this year’s seal hunt quota by 50,000 seals to nearly 400,000—all for fur….

Come on dancers and friends,  if not this cause, pick one that you believe in, and show support. Share with us what your causes are, I would love to hear about them.

And thank you!

Wow! A HUGE thank you to all of you who have come out to support our new shop, Cultivator General Store this last week. We had a fabulous opening week, with great soups, eats, coffees, and wine tastings! Jeff and I could not be more thrilled by your enthusiasm and excitement about the food and shopping goodies that you are loving at our general store. I thank each of you for stopping by to check it out, and what a delight to meet so many of you face to face.

I thank Sherri, and Kris, Lori, and Victoria, and my mom, Scott and Mary, and so many of you I cannot even name, for encouraging us to follow our vision. I thank all of you who have volunteered your time in getting us up and running. I thank Heidi and Laurita, Jani, and Brett, our fabulous staff for working and believing in Jeff and myself, with out you we could not have done this. And I thank the musicians—Scott and Bill, Victoria, and Joe and others, and the fabulous bellydancers, Gyspy Caravan Dance Company—who helped to celebrate last Thursday on our opening day and night. What an honor to have your talents in Clatskanie.

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We are happy to bring our wonderful town more events, starting this Friday, April 9^th, with an informal wine tasting with some delicious wines from Chile. Drop by from 5-7 pm, for a tasting of four yummy wines for $4.00. And try a delicious cheese platter while you are there…

Also tomorrow, Friday, we will have our first delivery from the Blue Scorcher bakery in Astoria, featuring fresh baked loaves of bread, bran muffins and oatcakes, regular and gluten-free cookies, so come by early to get in on that with our daily soup specials and sandwich pizzetas from kitchen wiz Heidi!

We have had the pleasure of serving you fresh goods from the Houlton Bakery in St. Helens all week as well, so look for Gainor’s goods on Tuesdays too!

Also coming up, Saturday May 1^st, starting at 11 am, we will have coffee expert Marcus, from Batdorf and Bronson, coffee roasters from Olympia, WA, come and give a talk with several tastings (free) about their fabulous coffees. Now is the time to come and learn more about coffee and have you questions answered.

And May 6^th, First Thursday, we will have wine experts Scott and Mary Denis (uncorkednw.com) out again to sample wines from France, so mark that in your calendar, 5-7pm. And follow that with a night of music at Victoria’s open night mic at the Blue Nutria, (7-10 pm) and we have a wonderful community event happening!

Many other events coming up, including the Garden Club’s fashion show Friday morning and  the poetry slam this Saturday. How cool is that?

And the possibility of an upcoming Portland artist’s show of botanical and herbal drawings with an art class in just that. Interested? Let me know.

And we have just begun…

We were happy and appreciative to have been written up in the Clatskanie and Longview newspapers, many thanks for that acknowledgement and exposure.

So again we thank you all for being here. It takes all of us to make a community thrive, and I am excited about our future together.

Paulette

And Jeff too!

Pass this email along to your friends, and I am trying to establish a good weekly newsletter to let you know about these events! Have a request or some event to pass along, send it to me.

As always, if you don’t want to be on this email list, just reply back with unsubscribe in the subject line.

Also, those of you who are taking my yoga and/or bellydance classes on Wednesday nights, I will see you next Wednesday at the Goldenspire! Can’t wait…

302 N. Nehalem, Clatskanie, OR   97016    503.728.3496
(Post to 23808 Blunk Dr.)                paulette@cultivatorgeneralstore.com

Open hours–Tuesday-Friday, 10 am – 7 pm;  Saturday, 9:00am-5pm;
and Sunday 11am- 4:00 pm; closed Mondays

all things good–local, organic, sustainable, yummy…
wines, cheeses, coffee, produce, fresh-baked goodies, home lovelies, and funky eclectic farmgirl delights!

And now, what does Tribal Farmgirl Paulette move into this spring? My handsome man, Jeff, and I are opening up a shop in our little town. Soon—April 1^st is the projected opening date—oh my. A shop of local organic foods and produce, freshly baked goods, farm-fresh cheeses, fair-trade coffee, and oh-so-good wine! We are extremely excited to take on this new adventure for our life now and our future, as we grow and nurture ourselves through work, community, necessity, and desire. Cultivator General Store, where farmgirl meets a funky, eclectic blend of sustainable home goods and yummy foods. That is our next step to create community, eat good foods, and live sustainably. What about you?

Ahh, England again and having a wonderful time. But I am finding it hard to  get my work done, writing, blogging, emailing, etc. when access to a computer and internet are not to be had. So after a week of no access, I am back on my computer at my lovely friend Louisa’s home, preparing dinner, and sipping celebratory champagne, toasting to my lovely hostess and host for having my in their delightful home, and she is sponsoring my Collective Soul Level 2 that starts tomorrow.

We had a fabulous weekend at the Majma Festival in Glastonbury, my first time to that magical little town where the historically mystical Chalice Well is, and so funny to be driving to Glastonbury and right in front of us on the highway was Stonehenge. Oh my…just right there. Well then, I have now seen it, driven by it, and viewed it under the stars on our way back home after the festival. So much I don’t know about the magical history of these places. I so enjoy driving through all of these very old, crumbly farming towns, sheep covering the hillsides, as we wind our way to our destination, laughing often, and comfortably silent as we view the countryside through the windows.

Glastonbury, a town full of magic shops, fairie wings, soul readers, and of course, our bellydance festival. My workshops were great fun, sold out, and we laughed (as always), danced, swirled shawls, played zils, experimented with dance concepts, tranced, and more. The shows were packed with performers of all genres, the crowd was great and enthusiastic and I was honored to be a part of the event.

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and now, while I am on the computer, I think it is time for a monthly CD giveaway!

Gypsy Caravan’s Awakening

I love this CD, recorded by Jeff Rees and Bruce Beaton of Gypsy Caravan, with special guests, Jeremiah Soto and Wayne Gilbertson. Some slow and fast and in between danceable pieces, tribal-ly. I can’t sit still when I play this CD, it has memories that I cherish, and the music makes me groove.

**Write a comment here, on this blog, and tell me what kind of music makes you move, groove, and dance; and why. Short, long, or in between, send me your words by March 20th to have your name put in the turban to be the lucky winner of  that CD, Awakening, and include your email address. I look forward to reading your words to share.

Tribal Bellydance Intensives with Paulette of Gypsy Caravan–

Collective Soul Levels One and Two,

in April (CS1 April 8-10, CS2 April 11-13) in Hungtingdon Valley, PA, near Philly. last Call!

email dance@gypsycaravan.us

Can you join us? I would love to dance with you…

www.gypsycaravan.us

For March D-quad, Delicious Divas Dancing Dreams,

Where has the dance lead you, or to whom?

Can you write about the experiences the dance world has shared with you, that may not even be about dance?

Take some time to think and journal about that, and then form it into a short story to share with us. Due February 20th. I look forward to reading about your journey. You can post it here, or email it to me  (dance@gypsycaravan.us) so that I can publish it in the March issue of Caravan Trails! I look forward to reading about your journey!