Arroyo S.E.C.O. Network of Time Banks member Nadine Lego is back from a year's adventure circling the globe!  Last year's "Repair Yourself Cafe" , which Nadine coordinated, was such a success that Repair Cafe and the Arroyo SECO Network of Time Banks will again host an afternoon smorgasbord of self-healing sessions, each about 25 minutes. This deliciously luxurious afternoon can be paid for with time dollars for the length of time you are present. There will be six half-hour sessions offered. Folks who are not yet Time Bankers are of course welcome.

The Armory Center for the Arts studio will be transformed into a "day spa" of yoga, Spa water, free hugs and much more. Parents welcome childcare provided. Give yourself the gift of self care or offer your community your nurturing gift.

A Chinese proverb says that "The scent of the rose remains on the hand of the giver."  Repair Cafe knows this to be true!

Mark your calendars for a unique opportunity!  Next Repair Cafe January 25, Saturday, noon to 3, will be hosted by La Loma Development at the SHED!  Marco Barantes and Michelle Matthews have invited us to use the Shed 1355 Lincoln Ave Pasadena, CA 91103 (SW corner of Lincoln and Washington) to set up a buzz of tinkers and tailors and anyone else who might like to offer a repair.  They  will host simultaneously an open house of the premises, which covers approx 1/4 of a city block, and a tour with representation of their unique vision for the property.  The Permaculture based Landscape Design and Architecture company is known for its permaculture garden-building including Pasadena's Arlington Garden, conversions of swimming pools to fish and plants environs and its support of the wilderness area known as Poppy Hill in LA.  

La Loma is creating a non profit arm called Zanja Madre as a way to knit the community with classes in permaculture concepts with a wide scope including demonstrations of bees, chickens, worms, green-growing walls and roofs, yoga and a beer garden, and a general resource for the community.
 Repair Cafe is a great fit with these Permaculture concepts offering the public the opportunity to test the waters of gift economy, Time Banking, and sharing abundance as well as reducing landfill and raising consciousness about reducing consumerism and building in community resilience.

Yes, we will have the Really, Really Free Market and hopefully some harvest to share from the Neighborhood Fruit Harvest group.  Rumor has it there may be tamales.  bring some food to share.  
To offer repairs or help with triage contact [email protected].
To sample the awesome feeling of abundance in action, just show up!

Next Repair Cafe will be Nov 16, Saturday 1-4 pm at they old fire station behind La Pintoresca Library now Alkebulan Cultural Center 1435 No Raymond Pasadena, CA. It will be loads of fun with Tinkers Tailors, Jewelry repair, lamp repair, Hair repair (trims) and the return of the Really Really Free Market. Bring something usable and take something you may need, FREE!
Promoting the Sharing Economy! Backyard fruits welcome!
We are in need of a few tinkers, tailors or repair people with another speciality. Anyone do bike repair??? Contact Therese at [email protected]

Tinkers, Tailors, Tour and Iced TeaNext Repair Café will be Saturday, August 17 from 6-9 pm in the Arroyo Food Co-op Store 494 No Wilson @Villa, Pasadena Tinkers and Tailors will be on hand.  You will have an opportunity to tour the little market and sip Iced Tea while you sit with your repairer.  The Really, Really Free Market will have a kitchen focus this time.Have a spare whisk or egg slicer or crock pot you want to pass on to a good home?All items welcome. Share your ideas on what you would like to see happening in the outside spaces of the market...bus stop bench? Food Cart? Plantings?  Hear the ideas others have. Mary will have very cute Repair Café aprons for sale.Bring a friend and escape the heat! 

Two Green City Awards were received by projects near and dear to Time Bankers' hearts at this year's Earth and Arts Festival.  Congrats to us! Repair Cafe, awarded for Waste Reduction, has hosted eight events this past year which have rescued nearly 300 items from becoming landfill, moving our city closer to its goal of Zero Waste by 2040.  The Repair Cafe was in full swing at the festival and utilized 25 volunteers, most of whom are Time Bankers.  Conversations with curious passersby covered topics from zero waste to localizing our economy, time banking, sharing skills, to neighborhood fruit picking and the Transition Movement's cheerful approach to divesting from unsustainable fossil fuels to heal this planet.  Save the date! Next Repair Cafe Saturday June1, 10-1 Throop Hall will include the Really Really Free Market, Potluck on the Patio and more!

Throop Learning Garden took the second award for Urban Nature.  Nearly 200 volunteers including many Time Bankers have contributed to this public garden over the last two years.  It is a blooming success for drawing attention to urban food growing, creating habitat for creatures small to large and demonstrating the change that adding nature to a busy urban setting can bring to its workers, its passersby, its local community.   The next goal for the garden is designation as Certified Wildlife Habitat by National Wildlife Federation in hopes of spreading this awareness as well.  It is worth looking into if your backyard has  become attractive to more birds, bees, bats, bugs and other creatures.  Only four components are required.  http://www.nwf.org/How-to-Help/Garden-for-Wildlife/Certify-Your-Wildlife-Garden.aspx?campaignid=WH09ASLP   Lets make a nature habitat corridor through the Arroyo!   Thanks to all who have helped attract the city's attention to these timely projects. You deserve to feel proud.  Tell someone how your contribution to your community has had a huge rippling effect for healing the environment.
-Maya Gingery