This morning, thinking, list making, wondering.
Yesterday's walk.
The tide was really low. I didn't stay long as the beach and boardwalk were busy and noisy. Now that school is out I need to remember afternoons will be noisier. I am usually looking for quiet.
There is a ring of veggies in the garden.
Dry pole beans, a couple tomatoes and a tomatillo.
Playing with seed pods at work.
Considering potential.
Deep breath.
A picnic on the back porch.
Strawberry Jam.
I read on the porch for 2 hours.
There was sunshine and rain.
The fig is bigger.
Roses were picked to make rose water.
I watched the hummingbird stretch its body out, its tail feathers were illuminated by the light.
The indigo vat is still working.
I copied Wendell Berry’s poem “How to be a Poet” into a journal.
Indigo
Play
Sweet
An hours worth of stitching this morning on the Peace and Plenty blanket:
As I stitched I listened to a new podcast I've discovered: Seamside. I've listened to four of the five conversations so far and have found them all interesting.
Fifteen minutes of collecting yesterday added to my collection of plant materials for projects:
Dandelion stems for cord making, daffodils and Camellia sinensis (the Camellia used for making tea) for dye.
Dandelions will continue the process of developing seeds even if picked. Something to consider.
That's for tomorrow.
I've been spending a lot of time sorting and reorganizing.
Use it up, give it away, and decide what I really want.
How I want to spend my time.
What do I enjoy the most?
One thing I know I love...color.
This is the dresser I have by my bed.
The drawers were a bit of a mish-mash of things.
Now one drawer is full of journal materials.
Another full of thread, needles, a few scraps of fabric.
The rest projects that I can pull out and work on for a little bit and then put away easily...insomnia projects.
Similar decisions are being made in the garden.
What can I care for, what will thrive on it's own?
Very excited to find the fig is alive.
From last weekend's walk.
I love this one just as much as the loon floating on the water.
Going under...what will be found?
Leftover soup found it's way into quiche as the liquid component.
(Avocado is one of the few non-local foods I eat, from California so not too far.)
My hummingbird feeders: fuchsias and petunias. As well as lobelia and creeping charlie.
And "mending to wear."
That's when you mend something and then put it on so you can wear it that day...
Back to working on the sweater.
Mostly when...
the cats were sleeping (Gibson's tail is almost ridiculous, he flounces at times).
There was also a lot of thinking (about how we chose to spend our time),
some wishing (for the rain to stop among other things, 2 inches in 7 hours this morning)
and some soup making.
Minestrone (vegetable broth + orzo + beans + kale + peppers + herbs + tiny potatoes from the garden + carrots + a dash of vinegar + olive oil + parmesan)
and Ricotta.
Not sure what I am going to do with the ricotta, just using the milk up.
I'll decide tomorrow.
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life." Mary Oliver
Closing in on my goal of 100 posts.
Looking back on post number one (May 8) of this set and thinking about the words I started with:
resiliency, comfort, caregiving and languishing.
Daily posts did not happen.
There were days of not being sure what I wanted to say.
When the moment that I could just show up passed by.
Days of "good enough."
(Layers of windows that need to be washed and lace.)
I realized quickly that comfort was too narrow of a word; caregiving more what I meant.
That (much like field notes) everything I post is really about caregiving, about being part of a community.
Everything about resiliency, about how we continue.
(Three 1 gallon bags of frozen grapes stored)
(Act of comfort, frozen cookie dough...all gone.)
Languishing has been a real thing at times since May.
Of feeling stuck. Not depressed but not thriving.
(I know, it's becoming the kitten chronicles again.)
There has been, and is, a lot of comfort in making.
And there is a lot of sadness in knowing I need to make more masks.
Wishing everyone a moment of comfort.
P.S. next word I want to consider...melodramatic, but not for 100 posts! :)
Purchased today at the farmer's market. Also cheese and cherry tomatoes.
From the garden: lemon cucumbers. Also harvested: blueberries, zucchini, onions, garlic, a couple cherry tomatoes, beans, & raspberries. Keeping a close eye on the peaches and have accepted that the squirrels will probably eat all the hazelnuts.
From the CSA: potatoes. Also this week: onions, zucchini, lettuce, beets & dill.
The flour was milled locally and the other ingredients from California via the grocery store.
It's good to have options.
I have three bookshelves
and stacks of books
and boxes full of books...
I never read just one book at a time, and rarely read one book from start to finish without reading another book in between.
Checking out books from the library causes me to buy more books than I probably would if I didn't check out books.
I reread books frequently too. Sometimes just chapters or sections, other times the whole book.
This selection (for Nancy so she can look closer) is made up of books that I reread often, books that are in the process of being read, ones that I am thinking about or that I want to read sooner rather than later.