Sunday, March 29, 2009

The view from here.....

The lighting was so beautiful its difficult to capture!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Life is so incredibly crazy

The crazy is merely the result of not being able to accept the reality that life is just that, up and down, good days... bad days, grey then lit with hope.

"Things are always changing, so nothing can be yours. ~ Shuyryu Suzuki

As difficult as it can be, the message is to kick back and go with the flow. I'm learning to spend less time trying to alter the journey and accept where it leads me.

One of my favorite Garden quotes, from the same person above

"A Garden is never finished"

So stop grinding about what needs to be done and just do it in the spirit of fun, because no matter how many chores make your list, the garden will never be finished. What a gift this is! The joy and pain (in the arse, or any muscle group) a garden brings, it’s an ongoing, always changing, forever opportunity to learn... I'll die, my garden will flourish and the job of tending that garden will simply pass on to some other person providing a whole new opportunity to learn. I'm also thinking of other things we tend to. Like raising children or nurturing a relationship with a partner, that job will never be finished. Kathee and I were discussing an article in McLean’s magazine about timing sleep for children, training them to sleep to optimize a parent’s right to look after themselves. Such a strange concept, training and altering... heck molding children to better fit into our busy schedules. It makes me wonder how we value and recognize the purpose of life. You can waste a lot of time and energy trying to shape and mold things to create your perfect existence, or you can let the garden grow.

Life is crazy, this is what makes it so wonderful. You'll never finish all that needs to be done before you die, but you can certainly waste your time trying.

Kathee you inspire
Zee

Thursday, March 26, 2009

From Seed to Table

From Seed to Table. A Practical Guide to Eating and Growing Green by Janette Haase
Lee here... I saw this book at the library and brought it home. I think this is a nice general gardening book and I even love the weight and feel of it. Not as many photos as I usually like but it feels down to earth. This lady lives in Ontario so I appreciate that it is "local". This book is set up with chapters that go month by month, suggesting what can be done each month, what foods are available and what to do with them. It talks about seed starting to cold storage and nothing is too overwhelming. Every chapter has recipes and a little activism blurb called "Food for Thought" with topics ranging from school yard garden programs to eating local to gmo's. I would like to have it on my gardening book shelf!


Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Princess Amalia

Kate as Princess Amalia in "The Little Mermaid" with some of the mermaids. She was also a mermaid at one point but these photos were taken after the show and her wedding dress is the last of her 3 costume changes.

The girl in green is the Sea Witch who was amazing! After each show (5 shows in total) the cast signed autographs for all the kids...so much fun! Kate is really going to miss all the time she spent with these new friends!



Saturday, March 7, 2009

mud pies

It's me, Lee....What a great day today. It was overcast and started raining once we went inside but it was so nice to go out and play in the mud. Annie made some delicious sloppy joes (lol) and mud sandwiches with rock and sand "toppings" and bark for the bread. She also made a river in the muddy tire ruts in the driveway and damned it up. It really would have been convenient to have the water hooked up outside but its still to early for that. Before playing outside, we had dropped Kate off at rehearsal and went for a walk in town. I have really thought lately about how thankful I am to be home with my girls. We do live pay check to pay check and that really sucks but there is really no where I'd rather be and nothing Id rather be doing. What could I possibly be doing more important than being there for my children. I know they are growing up but there are lots of times when any one of them will seek me out and talk with me about something important or pressing to them. Im glad Im there for them at that moment when they need me.


Thursday, March 5, 2009

Good Day ~*

Life is full of surprises. I was tweeting "I have many projects that need attending to, it is now part of my daily practice... order is bliss" I've been re-reading my copy of Crooked Cucumber, what do ya know? Inspiration abounds in this book. I often nudge myself into re-eveluating my thoughts towards certain daily activities and chores, encorporating the hard stuff reaps the rewards you often don't come to realize, this is the desired result.

There are a bazillion and one things to do, maybe even more than that... but the most important thing is to be grateful for the opportunity to tackle them.

I got my book "Seed to Seed" and hope to spend some time over the course of this summer to learn. I may not be able to put it all into practice just yet, but I am capable of learning. DH and I are going to get the chicken house up and ready for the good weather, hoping to welcome a new group of ladies to their new homestead this spring. I've been hanging out with my Storey's Country Living, imagining ten acres and al l the possibilities. I think we'll resume the search when things settle down here and life is less intense.

Gardening is... let the seeds thrive and eventually come full circle!
Here's to Spring Lee and Kathee and all the other Eclectic womyn out there.

Zee

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

We did it!! It's March!

Lee here...I'm so happy its March. Even though it is really really cold out, it is sunny and bright. It has put me in spring cleaning and garden planning mode. I bought a few containers to sort some things..a bin for letter writting which I love to do, one for my little stash of embroidery floss and hoops, patterns and material, and one that remains unfilled for now. I have bought most of my seeds and just need a few more like some clover, sunflowers and more herbs. I want to start some inside this year to get a jump start on some yummy fresh food.

Some fun things for March.......Annie is getting excited for some march break activities at the library this year. The children's libarian, Jaye is so amazing and Annie enjoys spending time with her. Kate is getting a bit nervous about being in the young company's production of "The Little Mermaid" at the Stirling Festival Theatre. It's a big deal in our area and it has 5 shows. She is really enjoying the rehearsals and having such a great time! It is such a great opportunity! Stef wont be able to see the show since she is off to Louisianna with her youth group for a week of working on houses as part of the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. She is so excited about travelling for the first time without us and getting to hang out with friends. They get to go to the French Quarter for a day trip as well.
Happy March!