Three days ago, I decided I would get some writing done! I was going to pen (type) beautiful pros about motherhood, growth, life and other profound stuff. Things did not go as planned. I thought I could accomplish this feat because Ry is home and could therefore take care of the little snapping turtle, while…
Tag: homesteading
Spring Break, Homestead Edition
This week proved once again (and still) how awesome the boys are. I am officially 8 3/4 months pregnant and in this state it could be a real drain to have two rambunctious kids running round for ten days, but true to form the boys were more of a joy than ever. Sure, they are…
Spring is Upon Us!
I see the ground! Before I moved to New England, this would have seemed like a very odd statement indeed, but now it is an event to be celebrated. Most of the snow in the yard had gone liquid and returned to the land from whence it came. Daily activities around the homestead have also…
My Hands
Have never known a manicure or file. They are bitten rather than clipped. They have been painted less times than there are fingers to paint. In many places they are more scar than skin. The fingers on the right appear to have been badly broken long ago, though they never were. They often spend their…
Gruesome Gratitude
All night I tossed the turned, dreaming fitfully of the morning’s macabre task. Each time I woke- my stomach dropped as I realized it had been a dream and the deed still lay before me. I woke up before dawn and headed out to prepare my station. I cut the top and bottom off a…
Reflections of Summer
This morning marked a rare day off, sans kids. I had a moment to reflect on a summer filled with work; most of my time spent away from our little homestead. Sitting with the birds in the sun, many thoughts passed through me. I let them come and go as they pleased. I was struck…
Photo Challenge 2016- Still
The normal cycle of snow, melt, snow, repeat– skipped us this year and we have entered the frozen season with no dress rehearsal. Barring some serious weirdness, the snow that has fallen over the last week will remain till spring. Goodbye ground! I have come to appreciated the frozen winter, so different from the wet ones…
2016 Garden Recap (Better Late Than Never. Right?)
Sometime in June I blinked, and BLAMO! It’s October. Most of my writing efforts this summer have focused on becoming unexpected duck farmers and The Scattering. The homestead vegetation has been unaffected by my lack of record keeping. Our fence worked wonders for the vegetable production this year! It is amazing (not really) what keeping the chickens and sheep…
Getting All Our Ducks in a Row
I mean literally. My figurative ducks are all over the place! However, I have found that actual ducks are easy to get in a row. Step 1: Put down a line of food… that pretty much does the trick. Fun fact: it works for chickens too. It is a moving, quacking, squawking row; but a row none the less….
Photo Challenge 2016- Water
This summer has been a whirlwind. Work fills my days + the homestead and boys fill the days off. It has been difficult to find time to breath, never mind write anything coherent or take any pictures. With a few dozen employs and a hefty commute, it seems like I am always in-between one thing and another. Consequently, I feel like I am…
Best Present EVER!
This week is my birthday and yesterday I got the most amazing gift I have ever received. We have a tradition of handmade gifts here on the homestead. Money is always tight and gifts are usually better when thought and effort create them, rather than a factory somewhere out there. I had to work but when I came home all…
The Best Laid Plans
… of ducks and women often go awry. This spring, we decided NOT to add anything to the menagerie. Then our ducks went ahead and veto that decision. Of course, it is my fault for letting them sit on the eggs but if you have ever encountered a broody duck you will have some clue as to my passivity…
Photo Challenge 2016- Work
The photo prompt for this week is ‘work.’ Oddly enough, I find myself with time off from work. It has been amazing. Of course, I made a bunch of lofty promises to myself about how productive I was going to be with my vacation. There is a lot to do around the homestead to make way for…
Photo Challenge 2016- Path
Growing up the martial arts community it is almost impossible for me to think of “a path” without the concept of the Tao or Dao. Contrary to the notion of a well defined boulevard or road The Way or The Path has always been explained to me as more of an attitude than a plan. It is not…
2016 Photo Challenge- Solid
Even the heart brake can yield a harvest. Fredrick, the last guinea fowl died Valentines day, which is rather fitting. I think he might have been a little suicidal after the death of his flock at the paws of the husky. He was never at peace. Didn’t want to live with the chickens even…
A Daisy Story
That last photo prompt; tension, got me thinking of a story I have been meaning to put down for more than a year. I have written quite a bit about Lulu’s early life and drama but I have not said much about our other sheep, Daisy. When Rusty died we searched high and low for a new…
Photo Challenge- Tension
As the land thaws and spring approaches- there are many interesting moments on the homestead. I picked the picture below for the word of the week “tension.” Thus far the two roosters have shown little aggression towards each other, but then again I have been keeping them apart. Only time will tell as they grow if they will stay…
Time May Heal All Wounds- But It Makes Homesickness Worse
My little town has always been the core of who I am. Even now as I sit thousands of miles away-it feels close enough for me to touch. It still stings my heart that I am too far away to do so. Boulder Creek still looks the way that most towns in the West used…
Survival Sundays
I think it is safe to say that most male persons have a secret (or as in the case of my cousin, not so secret) crush on Bear Grylls. I mean the guys gets to run around the world, climbing trees, starting fires and drinking/wearing his own pee- all so he can tell you how to survive…
TBT: My Surrender to a Lack of Expectations
“The more things change…” This journey is far from over and the things I have learned are immeasurable and priceless. Every once in a while I am privileged to have some positive reinforcement that my thoughts and I are on the right path. Surrender is not something to submit to or to accept and then…
Can We Come In?
No, no you can’t.
Year Of The Sheep
It is a trip to think that the year of the Sheep/Ram/Goat is more than halfway over! Chinese New Year is celebrated on the second new moon after the winter solstice. The winter solstice always falls on December 21st. This year the next new moon is on January 10th 2016, and the second new moon is on…
The Prettiest Fungi Of All.
I am astounded by the constant change of the forest here, in Maine. There is a time for everything and everything has its time. We have an incredible amount of fungi in the woods that surround us. Most start fruit in the middle of summer and continue right till winter.
TBT
The Swell Again and again I tread the same water passing it over my body and going nowhere, suspended between what is and what is to be. Then change comes as a wave out of the abyss consuming everything. Shifting your entire bodily universe and there is nothing anyone can do to prepare for it,…
“Once In A Blue Moon”
It feels apt that July began with a full moon and will end with one too. The first moon can be called a ‘Blessing Moon’ (an old term for July’s full moon) the one on the 31st of July, will be the second full moon this month and thus- a ‘Blue Moon.’ The time in-between has passed so quickly and…
