Let Me Introduce You

The babies are no longer little balls of fluff. In fact at only one month old they are getting too big for their habitat in the garage.

It's time to introduce them to the big girls. But these introductions need to be handled delicately. A good option is to wire a run within a run so the girls (both little and BIG) can get used to each other without access to pecking each other.

Eventually, when the littles grow some more, they can mix it up.

It's kind of like hardening off seedlings!

Easter Grass Recycled

"Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" is a phrase often heard here in the Boulder Valley, and that's exactly what I did with the Easter Grass.

The ladies were wary at first (as hens will be)

but their curiosity took over at last.

Bon Appetit girls!

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Why does a chicken do anything, really?  One can drive oneself mad asking those kind of questions.  Which has me thinking (oh no, not that again), why not stop asking some many damn questions?  So ultimately, that is what I gave up for Lent, the thought of "why?".  It's been rather liberating I must say.  In fact, I've been learning to let go, or at least I'm trying now more than ever, in 2013. Sadly, Mommy Chicken has been paying the price a bit, but she's patient.  She knows her time to shine will come again.

So what have I been up to?  Quite simply, I've been MOVING, not my house, but my body.  I've been enjoying the community of swimming in a group, the Boulder Aquatic Masters, and the fitness of body, not to mention mind, it has brought me.  It seems this physical outlet is taking over the creative outlet at the moment, but that's OK.  Good things come from a little time off.  There are ideas percolating, but rather than write about them, I'm going to sit on them some more and see what hatches.

In addition to getting more physical, we've have been making physical changes to our home.  The most important being the purchase and installation of a wood burning stove.

There may have been a better installation configuration, but Brad and I were not up to demolition of the hearth and masonry work.  Sometimes it's better to do something imperfectly, than nothing perfectly.  Here she is prettified with BEESwax candles.  I sure do love beeswax candles, the glow and scent is incomparable.  Wouldn't it be neat to keep bees, harvest honey, make candles and other products with their wax, and especially learn about how they live in their amazing community?

In addition to tending the fires at home, I get to tend the plants (indoors) and pups:

Pepper - the "prince" or "stinker" depending on the time of the day

Lucy - I need say no more but to know her is to love her

not to mention tending the family and work . . . all good things making for a very full and happy life.  I have managed to sneak in a little creativity.  Here's a peak at a little project for you gardeners who are eager to get outside, but find it a bit too cold yet:

You can buy, soak, and sow wheat grass seeds indoors in any pretty container or planter of your choosing.  Soon, you'll have a lovely grassy display for your spring pleasure :)

"I believe a leaf of grass is no less than a jouney-work of the stars" ~ Walt Whitman

Today's Unfoldment

After many beautiful days of overcast skies and thunder showers (a rarity here) we were greeted by several lovely openings in the garden. Thought I'd share!

Who knew?

It's really news to me that green beans produce purple flowers. Another surprise waking me up to the beauty of tending a garden. At least they sure look like green beans.

I should be ready for any manner of surprises because summer living has fallen into that lovely feeling of cruise control that I look forward to every year. Lots of back porch time to leisurely read and just stare off into the garden.

                                

Although it's a bit of a challenge to enjoy the peace guilt free. I do know that peace comes at a price. I earn it everyday with the tending of family and flock. Just the other day I had to go toe to toe with a bull snake who had been happily feasting on the ladies eggs.  Once that was managed I started gathering my favorite green eggs again.

Yes I was so excited I dropped one!

So although all is quiet in the country for now, I keep a watchful eye.

Stepping Off the Cow Path

I was afforded the pleasure of my Mom's company last week.  What a treat to sneak away from the everyday to wander through different neighborhoods and gardens, stopping at some favorite haunts for a bite or a cuppa.

Nanny getting Lucy Love

Having sent two daughters to CU in Boulder, there were places on the must visit list.  However, it was those stolen moments of "why not?" that yielded the best harvest.

Crazy good Folk Art

I'm so glad we decided to break away from the "tried and true" to discover this little gem of a nursery tucked away in North Boulder, which is aptly named "The Secret Garden." It was full of fun Folk Art surprises.  I remember it being run by a lovely English lady, Sheila, who sadly passed away awhile back.  The new owners have done a wonderful job adding their eclectic style to the place, a must in Boulder.

There is something wonderful about breaking away from the familiar, stepping off the cow path so to speak, that heightens our awareness allowing us to enjoy the present moment for what it is, a gift indeed.

This Day

I hope you all enjoyed celebrating the mothers in your lives this past weekend.  I enjoyed my day by sharing a Sacred Yoga class with a friend, to return to a lovely brunch of mushroom flautas with date/mint/chili chutney created by Brad, Rachel and Max with Bhakti Chai to top it all off!  Lucky girl I am :)  Wanting to capture the feelings of the day, I happily outfitted a rock with color and life this morning.

And I had company.

Blessings on your Monday!

Hope Springs Eternal

Sure signs of Spring, heaven sent and blessed:

The weather has been such a welcome relief, I find myself in a state of suspended belief.  Not enough to keep me from the garden this weekend however.  I spent a good part of it scraping off the Winter's blanket of dead, brown leaves and debris to welcome the our harbingers of Spring.  It's great, albeit, very physical work.  I'm grateful for the strength and opportunity to stretch and flex this body after a Winter hibernating indoors.  I'm also grateful for the help I got from my boys.

Now, I watch and wait as the colors unfurl.

Blessings!

May I Take Your Coat?

Today seemed as good as any to can those tomatoes.  They have been staring me in the face every time I go outside to take care of the ladies.  I worked hard this week to get most chores and town errands done so I could tend to them before the varmints did.  Seeing that we're enjoying cooler weather and dinner was in the crock pot (split pea soup - Max's favorite!) I set about this task.

Canning tomatoes is just like any other task in life.  It's all in the prep work!  Get your work stations set up (ice bath, pot of boiling water, compost bin to discard the skin) and the rest is a breeze.  Still I found myself dragging my feet a bit and thinking, "why am I going to spend this time when I could just buy canned tomatoes?" and "how much gas am I going to use canning?"  But what's the point in growing the stuff if you don't do something with it.

It wasn't until I was slipping off their skins (taking their coats) that it occurred to me just how beautiful each and every tomato was just under the surface.  Despite the scars, or a little discoloration, each one was lovely and had value.  Which got me thinking, of course: we're not all that different than tomatoes. 

Just to bring the point home, I'll share a little what I learned yesterday volunteering at my daughter's high school.  Those people who "check in" and greet visitors?  They're really there for those kids.  Why am I surprised?  One gal said she makes sure to say "good morning" to as many kids as she can, even bringing candy to get them to come up to her.  She believes she may be the only friendly face some see that day (shout out to you Kris!).  The other gal believes "there are no bad kids, just kids who haven't gotten something they need."

Incredible.  So was the canning worth it?  You bet!  I guarantee you this lesson wouldn't have occurred to me as I hurriedly drove into town and hastily looked for parking.  Maybe there is something to the old Shaker song "tis a gift to be simple."

Yup, it's definitely getting to be the end of the season.  You can see it in the early morning light, can't you?  You certainly couldn't tell by the afternoon 90 degree weather we've been experiencing, but the season is winding down.  It feels just like when the sprinkler reaches it's full arc and you want to make a run for it. 

We had an incredible bean harvest, but even they are slowing down in production.  The hens are slowing down as well.  Instead of gathering 6-8 eggs a day, I'm gathering 4-5.  The weeds however still have a good head of steam.

I literally threw in the trowel (pun intended!) on the weeding when the mosquitoes got too thick and vicious.  But amidst all those bugs and jungle there is food to be enjoyed.  It does take a certain amount of courage and clothing to bring it in!

So now my dilemma is what to do with all the bounty?  I have made copious amounts of ratatouille and cucumber salad, but part of me wants to squirrel it away for a taste of summer in the winter.  I would love to find a canning recipe to use up the zucchini, squash, beans, and peppers.

Any ideas?

14,000 Things To Be Grateful For

Well, I have to admit.  Sometimes I suffer from Blog Anxiety.  Do you know what I mean?  It usually strikes when I find myself caught up in the comparison game.  You know how it goes, "Gee, her muffins are so much cuter than mine," or "Wow, she seems to have so much family togetherness time."  It's a horrible place to be, so as my friend says, "If you're going to take that kind of a trip, make it as fast as possible."

Nothing pulls me out of that place faster than practising gratitude.  Was it Gandhi who wrote, "Gratitude is the surest path back to the soul?"  Therefore, here is something I am grateful for:

We've been having pretty consistent afternoon and evening rain showers, so much so that I'm not sure Little League will ever finish (many, many rain delays).  Something that I am oh so grateful for is that first step out the back porch in the morning as I go to let out the chickens.  The smell of garden sage, lavender, tomato and cilantro is overwhelming.  Something about that hard rain releases the essence of these plants and it just lingers in the air.

One little thing that means a lot to me.

June Beauty

It's been awhile since I last checked in, and in my last posting we were getting ready for our trip back East.  It was a lovely trip, and I will justify it by writing its own posting in a bit.  But for now, I wanted to slowly wade my way back into Blogsphere and share some June Beauty.

Well there is time left-fields everywhere invite you into them.~Mary Oliver

Finding Our Rhythm

Is There Anything Prettier Than Pink Peonies?

Seems like every summer we go move through an adjustment to school being out and a new routine being established.  This time can feel awkward and more than a little uncomfy.  As the kids grow they need to assert themselves more and more as far as how they want to spend their vacation.  And yet, someone needs to be there to guide them, and at the very least DRIVE them.

After a bit of a bumpy start things are starting to settle.  As Max learned at Scout Camp, and obligingly shared with us, one of the most important components for survival in the wilderness is good moral.  And one essential element for good moral is establishing a rhythm.  Fantastic.  This hearkens back to Rachel and Max's preschool teacher's mantra "Rhythm, Routine, and Consistency."

So, after too much back and forth this week, my hero came to my rescue.  Thank you Brad for getting the kids to their early morning swim practice so I could enjoy a quiet house.  I revelled in the time to straighten, dust, vacuum, and fuss about the house without disrupting anyone.  Glorious.

To cap it off, I was able to bike to work.  What a treat!

My Commute

To think I may have missed this view if I hadn't slowed down long enough to leave the car at home.

Here's hoping you all are finding your own rhythm within your summers.

Wordless? Wednesday

Clematis "Violet Charm" & Apricot Bearded Iris

To create a garden is to search for a better world.

In our effort to improve on nature,

we are guided by a vision of paradise.

Whether the result is a horticultural masterpiece

or only a modest vegetable patch, it is based on the expectation of a glorious future.

This hope for the future is at the heart of all gardening.  ~Marina Schinz

Why Blog?

Beauty is Everywhere, Especially if You Look For It!

I'm grateful for this space to record my thoughts, feelings, images, hopes and wishes.  I'm grateful for the opportunity to share with family and friends.  I'm grateful for the potential to connect with other like-minded people who I may not ever have the chance to encounter otherwise.

For the most part the posts actually write themselves.  Ordinarily my experiences have a way of collecting and connecting in my brain with some alacrity, thank goodness.  I'm blessed to live a full life that way.  And all these little thoughts have a way of bubbling up, filling me with a certain amount of energy, so it's nice to have a place to put them.  It's kinda' like lifting the lid on a simmering pot of rice to let off the steam before it bubbles over.  Such a blessing to have yet another practice that brings clarity.

But there are moments, not many, when it's hard to share.  When I can't necessarily tie a pretty bow on my life.  That's not to say that my life is difficult.  It's just hard to find the bright side sometimes.  Yesterday was such a day, and boy, I think I have a negative attitude hangover.  It's quite a vicious circle, worry, doubt, anxiety.  It feeds on itself.

But I've been given a new day, with new possibilities and I'm not going to waste it.  So with a "parting is such sweet sorrow" I must log off and find out what life has in store for me today.

What does it have in store for you?

Do-Si-Do Your Partner

Yesterday we had a wee break in the colder, cloudy, rainy weather here (Are we really in Boulder folks?  Feels more like the Pacific Northwest). So with shovel and wheelbarrow in tow I ventured into the garden for some much anticipated pottering about.  Certain flowers had been catching my eye and demanding I move them to a more appropriate place where they could be better show-cased.

Well, my gardening is a bit like dominoes, or sqare dancing.  Once started, its hard to stop, and one move affects another.  Move this hellebore, and oops, make room by moving that rose, and so on.  It was a glorious early morning until I could stand the stink eye from the pups no longer.

Off we ventured to the North Shore.  It was lovely.  The clouds were breaking up and the sun was peeking through just enough to highlight the water and provide some warmth. 

The pups enjoyed their run, perhaps a little too much.  After snake hunting in the grass, and rolling in a much decomposed carcass by the water's edge, it was a happy, albeit stinky, ride home.

Quick baths, and a quicker lunch and they were settled into their afternoon naps.  How I envy them, it is a dog's life afterall.

A good day with all its comings and goings.  Speaking of comings and goings.  Sad news from the farm.  The dear little egg with the hearbeat is no more.  Such sadness.  I was shocked when collecting the days' eggs to find that it was gone.  Gone without a trace!  How can that be?

After consulting an online chicken forum, I've surmised it could be one of a few things.  Rat (Darn you Templeton!), Snake (Let's NOT go there shall we?), or eek Cannibalism?  I've gleened some ideas and after more than a bit of grieving, moping, and basic wallowing, I'm determined to thwart the culprit!  No one said this chicken keeping was for the faint of heart.  So, its off to the hardware store for some hardware cloth.