That's about it for today.

Fabulous weekend...

Catching Up

Last few days have been strange and lovely, in ways.

Saturday I spent the evening in the company of my sisters and good friends, at the lovely and amazing birthday celebration of my dear friend JB, who has reached the ripe old age of thirty-five, in spite of all odds, in deference to fate, in sheer strength and unbelievable willingness to show life how to be lived, and loved.  You blow me away, my friend, the ripples over water that your eyes radiate with each smile...

Meanwhile, CM has found, with his new partner, some good acres of gorgeous, rolling, luscious farmland upon which to build a new home and gorgeous, rolling, luscious dreams.  I must admit to feeling some degree of envy, seeing those fields of green... Not long ago I held the hope of finding such a place.  What a joy, to stand with both feet upon the land you will call home, to feel it give beneath you!  I wish you--both--a long and winding path, deep into the weeds, up reaching oaks, under bending sumac, across the flowered valley, beyond... It will be beautiful.  Much love.

But how bittersweet it can be, a taste of wild lettuce on the boulevard... (just reading about Latuca scariola, found some eager volunteers in li'l sis's garden....Eminently edible, I'd say...)

Sunday, after a night much too late for old persons, I had the pleasure of spending a relaxing day in the company of the twins, my bro-in-law and a friend, letting a long grey day pass slowly and easily, with conversation and documentary, and delicious desserts, and comfort foods, and plain old time.  Ahh, leisure.  I'd forgotten about you.

Not much happening in the yard these days, although I may have neglected to post anything about the ten-hour Sunday effort during part of which I got the patio herb garden in and moved my (entire) shady corner into it's proper place.  Hell of a lot of work but it's starting to look like something, now... If it ever clear up again I've got plans for that vacated spot, and a few more around here....

News from up north is that all the plants are planted and all the seeds are seeded, and I'm excited to see what's growing on up there, soon.  Steady rains this season have slowed things down just a little, but the new fruit trees and shrubs and all the others we planted last year have to be loving it, and I'd gladly eschew a few tomato sandwiches for the promise of plums... An orchard, now that's something I can look forward to.  Oh, yeah, and my peach tree has made itself right at home, almost looks like it's been here all the while.  I'll be surprised if there aren't a couple of peaches on it next year.

Sweet dreams, all of you, and thanks for reading.

Where'd the Elf Come From?

It's just a question.

New Implement

This is not some namby-pamby little pronged garden trowel, made for scraping the surface.  Neither is it a stand-up farmer's sort of agrarian long-handled device, meant for working at length, distance.  It's more of a get-down-on-your-hand-and-knees and hack it out kind of thing, my new tool.  It's got teeth, it's got fangs.  

I wasn't sure about this one, mainly because of the cost, and also because I couldn't find anyone online who had one, probably because of the cost.  But something about this thing told me I had to have it.

I brought it along to my folks' last weekend, in anticipation of getting the beds dug in.  Turned out, between the weather (bloody hot on Saturday) and the distractions (many), we only got as far as turning the front garden turned over with the broadforks and roughing out paths, and didn't get around to actual bed preparation, although the few weeds there were are mostly gone now, and a few things got planted (datura, nicotiana, artichoke) and transplanted (chervil, borage, strays of various sorts...).  Thanks to all for pitching in, by the way.  Anyway, at one point Mom caught a glimpse of it, lying around somewhere, and said what's that?  It's my indulgent new thing.  That looks like an awesome tool, she said.

And it is.  I found this out working the beds around my patio, breaking up compacted clods of soil and mixing in the fresh sift from the sod, along with some compost.  It took a good while--not least because of all the iridescent coral glass cabachons that emerged from the dirt with each turn (such a simple pleasure, to uncover these strange jewels...)--but it didn't take me long to understand that the tool in my hands was the real deal, worth the price.  It's got groove, it's got meaning... I mean the tines on this thing are five inches long, and pointed, and the angle on the fine wood handle is such that when you swing it, it can't help but find a hold...like wielding an ice-axe, almost.  It means business.  Sure, it takes a little--shall we say?--aggression to use it well, but for the task of clod-busting that's probably a good thing.  And once the dirt's all nice and soft, it cuts through just like butta... 

I believe, in the realm of the body of tools I shall have known throughout my lifetime, this one might outlast me.

Anyhoo... in other news, I finally got my peach tree planted, over the holiday, and must say it pleased me more than a little to wake the next morning and see it peeking in at me through the kitchen window.  I found a spot for my currant, made some progress on the fencerows, and stumbled onto a plan for the garden-to-be under the tarp (which I was hoping to take off this weekend, should the weather cooperate) while doodling plans at my sister's, where we ended up with a drawing of a variation on a keyhole design that looked something like a smiling antlered creature and female reproductive system, not that anyone was trying... So I'm aiming to put in some kind of heart-shaped ram's-horn yoni-type thing back there under the cover, maybe with a bee watering hole at the center.  It'll be fun to start working the interior rather than securing the perimeter, if I ever make it that far... We shall see.  More in the days to come.

(Oh, yeah.  It's a hand tiller, Eliot Coleman design, if you must know.)

 

gratitude 2

buried treasure

trust in plants

courageous parents

Spring rains

new hoodies

Object at rest...

I am doing what I can to relinquish my lust for control, or my crazed desire for some semblance of autonomy, which may have something to do with the routine I've been running lately, of treating my body as a crude machine (a bit of fuel, some fire, exhaust...) but today I had to just give it up.  I had the wisdom yesterday to know I couldn't possibly go to work today, but my hope was to spend a long a sunny day getting prep work done on the new spaces in the backyard, breaking up the soil and turning in some of that composted manure, so they'd be ready for planting when I get home on Monday.  Instead I slept in, had breakfast and then curled up on my rug for a couple more hours' of unintended sleep (with the broiler on for all that time, I might add).  My eyes were actually rolling around in my head, I'm so tired, so polluted, so weary maybe.  Fuel, fire, exhaust, won't get you anywhere on a flat.  Or four.

Anyway, I've only enough time this afternoon to get the place cleaned up, water all the plants and pack up, which sorta stinks because there's enough here to keep me occupied at a pleasant sunny pace for three days, easily...I've got trees and shrubs and flowers and herbs and fruits and veggies sitting in flats, still alive, but waiting...hopefully they can hang on for a few more days.  I already lost one of the artichokes and the bitterroot is looking pretty unhappy, but the rest of them seem to be doing all right.  Just wish I had the time to take the time, work at my pace for a few days, even relax maybe, instead of the weather or someone or the frigging universe constantly intervening to with that big "Don't Panic" sign, reminding me that there are an infinite number of ways to let it all go.  And speaking of going...

Wow, honestly

My peonies are in full bloom, hung over with heavy blossoms of white kissed just there by dark and luscious red, of deeply blushing rose...unkempt ruffles of silk, so soft on the hand, the shoulder, the cheek...their fragrance fills the yard, even while it rains; it fills the house, day and night...a vase bedside perfumes my sleep, wakes me gently... So lovely, so lovely, and there are more to come, deep purple behind the back fence... What a luxury it is, to love a flower!  I cannot but breathe this sweetness...