Sea + Prairie

in the garden :: late spring

It has been a few days since I've been in the garden.  It has rained and rained and rained for days now.  We're about to float away here in Virginia.  And I've been forced to back off a bit and let nature do its thing.    

There are mornings that my boys wake up in the morning and I swear that they were 2 inches shorter when I put them to bed the night before.  That's how Im feeling about the garden this morning as I walk around and see what a few days of rain can do.  

The mint is exploding!  

The sugar snap peas are full and fat with the new moisture.  

The garlic, onions and leeks are doing their thing.

The side boards of the  raised beds are barely holding in the chives, basil, rosemary and oregano that are spilling over into the yard.

The boys have been invaluable at helping me keep up with the weeding.  And Im so thankful that they are at an age to really enjoy helping out.  Seems like some of our best conversations happen while pulling weeds.  Something about the hands being busy, allows the thoughts to flow.  

And its a good thing, because as the boys were on the soccer field last week, I noticed the shorts were hitting them a bit higher up on the leg than they were last week.

It happens overnight sometimes, doesn't it?

week 5 of 52

(week 2)

I've been clicking along with my 52 of You project.

This is week 5 and our assignment is to get out in the dark, to play with light sources like christmas lights and glow sticks, etc.  Its a tough one...a real challenge.  By the time I get everyone into bed at night and start to think about my own time, I just want to put on my flannel pj's and climb into bed with my stack of books.

I haven't really wanted to get bundled up and head outside to set up shots and explore light sources...at all.

(week 1)

(week 3)

(week 4)

So far, its been fun...and I have tried not to take myself too seriously.  I had a lot of fun with week 4, with the theme of whimsy.  

However, this week's "dark" challenge has me a bit stumped.  I don't want to spend any more time "in the dark" than I need to.  As a kid I would run and jump into bed as far back as I could just in case there might be anything under my bed that might be able to reach out and grab me.  Somehow, once I was in bed I felt safe and secure.

Feeling a bit like that these days, like I just want to stay under the covers a bit longer where it is warm and safe and nothing can get me.

Maybe I'll just stay another week on whimsy and skip the darkness challenge all together...or not.

Here's to getting creative in the dark, and living in the light friends!!!

plodding along

Yesterday, I went for a walk in the forrest with my Mosey + Pold friends. 

I have come to really love these walks.  Its not hard to imagine talking and walking.  I have a little running dialog in my head of things we notice as we walk.

Like the lovely mosses that were everywhere.  How vines clung to the trees that stretched upward.

It was chilly, but it was surprising how much protection fron the wind the huge pine trees provided.  We didn't get to walk as far as we had planned.  The melting snow had left huge puddles and none of us wore our rain boots.

On the way back we found ourselves looking up at how beautiful the bare trees were against the blue, blue sky.

Its tough to walk very fast when your gaze is upward.  So, today it was more of a plod than a mosey.

We caught glimpse of a woodpecker.  I thought it was a red-headed woodpecker, but Beth pointed out that it was a pilleated woodpecker.  I was thankful for this group who can share knowledge as well as walks in the woods.

Have a great weekend all!

2013 :: fly

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”  - Maya Angelou

Last April I dove head first into a photo project hosted by two dear women, Meredith and Kristin, called Now You.  I didn't like that I never saw myself in any of the photos I was taking.  Lots of photos of my boys, the garden, our home.  But I was not present.  

Not so coincidentally, there was a lot going on in my personal life.  I had a lot of questions.  I needed direction.  And thought this class might be the perfect thing to stop...look in the mirror...and se if the answers I was looking for were there, inside of me.

As each self portrait prompt came into my email inbox, I eagerly, with equal parts timidity, started shooting away.  It was a great start.  I was proud of myself.

That is until the second week.

The theme was roots & wings, with the idea that by grounding ourselves first, we can find our wings.  Meredith challenged us with setting the timers on our cameras and capturing ourselves in mid jump.

It was tough.  And I struggled with the emotions that the assignment brought up.

Flight, wings...fear, doubt, shame, sadness.

I tried.

But I couldn't bring myself to post anything to the class.

I was firmly planted, but couldn't fly.  I was stuck.  Frozen.

And I quit the class. 

I've spent the last several months since then devotingway too much time thinking about what the heck happened.  Trying to be gentle with myself, trying not to feel like I let anyone down.  Trying to realize we each have our own processes and in my process I needed to work through some things.

So, here I am again.  New year...a few proverbial pounds lighter.  And with a new word for the year...FLY!

Oh and the class...I signed up for the new NOWYOU Workshop:  52 of YOU.

Here's to flying!

xxooxxoo,

Eren

crash

We get on bikes for an after dinner tour around the neighborhood

the older two way out ahead, up and down the curbs jumping, laughing an singing.

I make the youngest ride directly in front of me.

He's been riding since he was 3, but he scares me.

He rides differently than the other two, 

looking at only what is directly in front of him-

one or two feet in front of him, totally in the moment, 

barely skimming cars parked in the street and trashcans left from trashday yesterday.

then jerking the handlebars just in time to save him...(sometimes).

Will this be how he does life 10, 20 years from now?

I hope not.  I don't think this mama heart could do it.

An all grown up life lived to the fullest, right in the moment, turning the handlebars barely in time to escape the hurdles ahead of him.

I don't want to watch, it almost makes a pain deep down in my gut.  Or maybe it is my heart.

I'm not quite sure.

If I didn't have to watch the path in front of my own bike, stretched out, I'd squeeze my eyes tight.

"Don't forget to look ahead of you!" I tell him.

I want him to hold on tight, so tight that he won't when he hits the snags in his way.

I want to hold him tight.

He says, "OK, mom" with his sly grin that means I worry too much. 

His 7 years nod to the 27 he will become.

I am thankful his turtle green bike helmet still fits him.

I put him behind me, on the sidewalk and hope he doesn't run into a jogger, or a cat sunning itself in the middle of the concrete path.

But there are even more obstacles there - cars parked half in the street, half out, someone's toys left from previous play, trashbags half filled with leaves.

I can't bear to watch.  But I can't bear not to watch even more.

I put him back in front of me.  At least there I can watch it all unfold and be there when the trials come his way.

He is so young.

We who are all lived up know there are things coming.  Crap life throws your way, like blue recycling bins left out a day too long.

 And I still choose to put him...all three of them...in front of me, legs peddling fast, so I can guide and encourage.  Hands gripping the handlebars tight.

Even if it means I am witness to the crash.

numbered

I felt it yesterday on the soccer field, in jeans and long sleeves, reading the Fall issue of Urban Farm magazine, coffee in hand.  Our days of summer are numbered here.  Autumn is fast approaching.  

There is so much to do.

Harvest, put away, freeze, can the tomatoes, the herbs, the squash and zucchini.

Soccer practice for the older boys (4 times a week) begins again. Carpool.

Fall planting of greens and garlic to get in the ground.

New shoes for everyone.

Seed saving.

School clothes to buy.

Not unlike little squirrels with their mouths full of nuts, preparing for the winter.  

Hurry, enjoy, savor, soak it all in!  The light, the warmth, the relaxed schedule.  Live in it, right now!

Just a few weeks ago, as the late afternoon sun would come barreling in through the back windows, I closed the blinds to it.  It was too hot...too strong...too much.

But now I find myself wanting to bask in the much softer, longer streams of light that filter in.  Mabel seems to have it right.

We've been watching the animals and their cues that Autumn is approaching.  The wooly bear caterpillars, the bees, the squirrels, they all know its coming.

But somehow they continue on about their work with effortless ease.  They've picked up their pace indeed.  But they are not crazy running around to find yellow sharpie hilighters and the correct size of Ball jars.

Somehow they seem to almost enjoy the readying for Fall.

So I listen to what the kings and queens of the nature world are trying to tell me.  I come in close so that I don't miss a thing.

They seem to say, "Drink the late summer warmth in by the gallons, lay in it, roll around in it so that it covers your entire being.  It is good for you.  Good for your soul.  This warmth is meant to carry you through the darker days to come. "

I love Mary Oliver's poem, Song for Autumn

In the deep fall
    don't you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
    the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
    freshets of wind? And don't you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
    warm caves, begin to think

of the birds that will come — six, a dozen — to sleep
    inside their bodies? And don't you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
    the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
    vanishes, and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
    its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
    the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.

- - - - - - 

Yes, this morning as windows are open and coffee cools a little sooner, I am feeling our days of summer are numbered.

Squirrels have their nuts to gather...I'm obviously collecting muckboots.

texas seeping in

I love how we bring things in and out of our lives depending on where we've been, who we've run into along the way.

We returned from our Texas trip a few weeks ago now.  And its become sort of a "thing" to have to mail a box...ahem, or two...back with all of our treasures.

This week our box arrived.

It smelled like home and one by one, the items were carefully opened and placed around the house to remind us of fond memories.

buffalo plates here, cowboy hats there

There are hide shaped coasters in the living room

and a bit of cowhide on the chair.

There will be more hide too.  In Texas you can never have enough cowhide.  A rug will be coming shortly for the kitchen.  Talk about a rug that is durable and will hold up to little boy activity!

Hide is where its at.

You'd think that beachy shells and cowprint wouldn't melt into each other too well, but my theory is if it makes you smile, its your style. 

So there.

Not only are there concrete "decorating reminders" of our trip, there are many (like a gazillion) fond memories of our most recent trip home. (more soon)

Like a story begging to be told, our Texas ties seep in to our life here in Virginia.  And it puts a smile on my face as wide as the prairie.

Now, to get my Mom to mail me some of those Parker County peaches.

:-)

{right now}

It was hot today and i was sticky.  I found myself slowly getting frustrated that he isn't here to teach them these things.  Frustrated that I have to be both mother and father at times.  But the time is quickly approaching that I won't be able to play both parts in this play.

But I took a breath...a deep inhale right to the very middle of myself.

And there I found the thankfulness I so needed.  Thankfulness that I am here, fully present, to share in these very special moments, these milestones that only come once in their lifetime.   A witness to time standing still.

making it a habit

Hello friends...

this month I have been invited to participate over at habit once again.  I continue to be so thrilled (and a bit shocked) that I am asked to contribute.

I begun to rely so much on my ipone for photos.  Its handy and convenient, but I do miss my Nikon.  In the updated guidelines sent, participants are strongly enouraged to steer clear of ig photos and such.  So this should be a great exercise in getting back to taking photos with my regular camera.

Here are a few out-takes from yesterday...a day filled with running errands, pulling weeds and laundry.  

Happy to have you visiting here today!  

sweetness

 

 

 

our blackberries are in
oh, I love them so much
we started picking them just as soon as they begin to turn dark, even though they are still a bit sour, we couldn't help ourselves
not until they are fat and juicy, are they perfect and sweet
which requires patience

I struggle with patience...and timing
I need to learn to wait for the perfect moment, that "sweet spot"
not to get too impatient
if blackberries can ripen in their own time, I think people (and children) probably do as well

the boys and I made Pioneer Woman's #1 cobbler...it was ok, yummy, but more like blackberry cake
and Im more of a traditional cobbler girl

we'll try again tomorrow with a true cobbler recipe

last year we fought with the robins for the berries, and they won
but, this year we netted the bushes and made some other deterrents
they worked famously!

and we have more than enough berries for our current needs and even some for freezing I think

I think blackberries might just be my favorite fruit in all the world
yes, I think so

-----

today was our first official day of summer, school was out on Friday and today was the first day we didn't have to get up and rush around

it was nice

nice not to have to rush, but also nice to have something oh, so fun to look forward to
farm camp!