The fair maid who, the first of May,
Goes to the fields at break of day
& washes in dew from the hawthorn tree,
Will ever after handsome be.
- English folk rhyme
Wishing you a blessed Beltane!
{ 0 comments }
We spent last weekend in Seattle. My brother and sister in-law run a lovely little B&B and urban farm in the heart of Ballard. My sister in-law is a gardener extraordinaire, a weaver, and a bee keeper. My brother is a chef, soap maker, chicken keeper and builder of fine things. They are busy people, they do all this and hold down full time jobs!
They impress and inspire me to no end.
We helped to extract honey from the hives, made soap, took walks, made and ate good food!
This is Sophie, she loves to hang out with the ladies.
We came home with an abundance of honey, soap, worms for the worm bin, and sorrel to plant.
It was a gloriously beautiful weekend!
{ 6 comments }
Every morning on my way to workout I pass by this garden. It’s nestled between a night club, the Y and a parking lot.
It makes my heart sing!
We are fortunate in this town where I live to have so much green space. You are within walking distance to the beach, a park or walking trails wherever you are.
I love this town of ours!
Wishing you a beautiful weekend, wherever you are.
{ 0 comments }
Seems that Mother Nature is teasing us this spring. Actually she probably does this to us every spring, but we forget, and when April rolls around again we get hopeful. We’ve had a few days of above 60 degree weather, but not many! On those lovely, sunny and warm days, we dash out into the gardens to: weed, mow what needs to be mowed, dig, plant, hop on our bikes, go for a hike or head for the beach. We try to pack as much as possible into that very short window of time, because it seems that for every warm and sunny day, we get at least two or three days of rain.
I’ve been experiencing spring vicariously through a few east coast bloggers, enjoying pictures of cherry blossoms and magnolias in full bloom. My own magnolia is just starting to bloom, and my fruit trees — well, I was starting to think they were all dead for lack of buds, but they are there. Small, but there.
So there is hope, and I will not give up on spring. But goodness, you do know that summer is right around the corner?
{ 0 comments }
The other day while looking around on my brother and sister in-law’s website, I found that they were participating in this Challenge. I got super excited and decided to sign up too. A good challenge is something every Aries girl loves. As an advocate for self-sufficiency, sustainable communities, and the urban farm movement, how could I not join it?
We are definitely fumbling our way through self-sufficiency, and even though we’ve been doing many of these things for years, I still feel like I don’t know what I’m doing half the time. So a challenge is just what I need to keep me on task, motivated, and teach me a few things.
I look forward to a year of new adventures, (chickens. Yes?) and expanding on existing skills (hard cheese, pressure canning, and soap making?).
So what will this look like for us?
Well, here’s the plan ::
Each month has a theme. We will work around that theme on tasks around our little homestead.
February :: Soil Building.
Well, we’ve missed this (obviously) but will work on it in the next month. I’ve been planning on building a worm bin for some time now. I best get on it!
March :: Home Dairy
I’ve already made chevre and yoghurt this month, just didn’t blog about it. I will incorporate that in the months to come.
April :: Gardening
I don’t know that I will wait until April to do this ;). Oh wait, that’s next week! Eeeek! I will be working on my kitchen garden most definitely. Weeding, cleaning and planting. We have plans to add another larger garden this year. Can we do it? We’ll see.
May :: Foraging
June :: Botanicals
July :: Seed Saving and Winter Gardens
August :: Preserving
Oh yes, canning, freezing and dehydrating. The fun begins. Perhaps this year I will add pressure canning into the mix.
September :: Bartering
Such a great idea. I do some already. I’m even a member of our local food swap. Maybe I’ll grab my goods and actually go!
October :: Protein
For the past four years we have sourced all of our meats and our eggs locally. This year we will be adding chickens to supplement our current egg source. So excited about this!
November :: Grains
This will be a tough one, as much as I love making bread, everything from making the sponge, smelling the yeast, kneading, baking, slicing and slathering it with butter, I cannot eat it. We are a gluten free household. So, I’m uncertain as to how this will look for us . . . perhaps I’ll venture down to Sunset Hill B&B and hang out next to their cob oven! Or brew up a batch of something for gifts or barter — maybe both, we’ll see!
December :: Hand Craft Holidays
Knitting, baked goods and soap! That’s my plan for this year.
January :: Reflection
I will definitely be blogging about this throughout the year, so stay tuned!
{ 2 comments }
Yesterday I woke up to a beautiful spring morning and to a chorus of birds outside my window, I heard my mother in their song. I heard her say it was time to move on; a year had passed, and she needed to go.
My niece called to tell me that she heard them too!
My mother passed away during the spring equinox and the super moon. To me it seemed like the world was standing still. I was afraid — afraid to lose my mother and my best friend. You see, hardly a day in my life had gone by that I had not spoken to her. She was the keeper of my secrets, my fears and my dreams. She was the one who always told me that everything would be OK. She was my cheerleader, always telling me to go for it!
She was my rock.
For months I would find myself driving to go visit her. Wanting to call when something happened that she would like, or when I saw a bird I didn’t recognize, when I saw an old movie that I knew she would love, or just because I wanted and needed to hear her voice.
The night before she passed away, when we were alone, I climbed into bed with her and we held each other. I told her I was afraid. She stroked my hair and told me that everything would be OK.
The next day it was my turn. As she lay in the bed at hospice, I whispered into her ear that everything was going to be OK, that we would be fine, that we loved her so very much, but she could go when she was ready, she didn’t need to worry about us anymore, we would be fine.
She passed away that afternoon surrounded by nearly all of her children and grandchildren. It was peaceful and beautiful. She was surrounded by love.
Today I see her in the birds, in the gerbera daisies, in a silly song that only she knew the words to, in a dance, in my gardens, in the mountains that she loved, in my nieces and nephews, sister and brothers . . . in Chloe and in myself.
{ 6 comments }
Last weekend I spent time on the island with some friends. It was a lovely time, walking on the beach,shopping in town and spending some time creating a little magic here. The weekend was filled with beauty, silliness, good food and good company.
There were signs of spring, here . . .
and here.
I love this view. This is home to me.
Wishing you a beautiful weekend.
{ 0 comments }
Well, I took a little unexpected break. Technical difficulties, so to speak.
Projects were finished up and new ones were started.
We took walks in the woods and got caught in an unexpected snow storm.
It was beautiful and exhilarating.
And we spotted a bit of spring coming through . . . oh yes!
She is on her way!!!
{ 0 comments }
