some shots from the northeast

Oh, to live in a place where it is not 100 degrees every day. But you know what? When it rains all the time there is mold . . . at least that's what I keep telling myself. And all that temperate weather . . . sheesh. A little hardship makes you stronger, right? Anyway, our trip to the Northeast was a welcome break from the heat here, though we have now been back long enough to attend a family wedding (I did the flowers!) and everything. Both of the girls love love love the ocean. And their cousins.

back to the blast furnace

Miss A and Baba feeding ducks at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Fran.
The view out our window at the Berkeley City Club.
Sea lions on the docks at Fisherman's Wharf.

After a trip to the Northeast to visit family, and a trip out to Berkeley for sis' graduation (with her PhD!!!), we have returned to the cauldron that is Central TX in July. This year more so than ever. Somehow our chickens survived our absence, despite their desire to brood and sit atop one another in the next box. The orchard is doing superbly, the persimmon tree even has six gorgeous fruit still dangling from it. The one fatality was our fig, which breaks my heart.

And I do realize that I have yet to announce here that my prolonged absence from this space has been due to my pursuit of Midwifery. A shift of gears, indeed. I am apprenticing with the midwife who helped me bring my two girls into this world, and have also enrolled in the Association of Texas Midwives midwifery training program. Standing on that incredible threshold of birth is such an awesome privilege. I am so excited and, for reasons that would take much too long to enumerate here, so convinced that this is the right path.

pretty pics by my hubby

My man has been wielding the camera lately. I love his shots, the way he captures light and movement. We got a new digital picture frame at Wolf Camera downtown (going out of business!) and have been experimenting with that, though the image quality is not what we had hoped. We are both ambivalent about letting go of printing, but it may be inescapable.

The top shot is of our recent trip out to Hamilton Pool . . . oh so pretty. And the rain has been falling.

Do you print your pics? digitize? How do you chronicle your moments?

juvenile garter snake

Laurel and I found this little guy down by our pond the other day. Apparently garters are the only snakes in our region with stripes running lengthwise down their bodies. We saved him in a bucket so Aurora could take a look when she got home. He was a surprisingly spirited little fellow, would puff himself full of air and even took a strike at me once. Not venomous, but a little aggressive nevertheless. We are glad to have him, though, as these little predators are so important to keeping the smaller critters in check.

I have been thinking a lot about purpose these days. The purpose of bees is to pollinate, the purpose of snakes is to weed out the weak frogs and dragonflies, etc . . . What is the purpose of humans?

radiant blossoms . . . errant blogger

Lantana camara in the chicken run.
Climbing rose "Don Juan."
Old fashioned petunia. More upright than the ones you commonly see today. I hope to plant more of these next year if these guys set seed.
Lady Banks Rose. Covered in blossoms right now. The white variety is actually even more floriferous.
Rosa chinensis "Mutabilis." The butterfly rose. I am in love with this rose. I planted two bare-root specimens this winter and have loved watching their reddish new growth emerge, and their fascinating flowers as they grow darker from yellow to deep rose. The delicacy of these blossoms is superb.

My mind has been all over lately, lollygagging along in a haze of springtime glee. There is nothing like a wealth of blossoms and green to make a gardener happy (while they last).

sphinx moth

Nobody is as excited about this guy as I am . . . he's as big as a hummingbird! So cool, such a long proboscis to reach down and get all that good Abelia nectar!

blackberries and blustery skies

We've been blessed with rain and burgeoning spring. Here is the Climbing Don Juan rose covered in raindrops. Rare treat. What a classic rose shape on this one.
This is what the skies looked like before a big rainfall a couple days ago . . .
Almost scary--look at that line in the sky!
And here's a baby Arapaho blackberry, striding along . . .

The Brown Turkey fig looks very happy!

happy vernal equinox (a couple days late!)

Spring is all-out springing here, and oh what fun. The light the last couple mornings has been so pretty, gentle, golden. I am being a real wuss about cutting back all the wild mustard and clover that has seeded itself all over the yard . . . the clover is soft and smells good and the mustard reminds me of abandoned fields in Germany. That gorgeous acid green is so special.
Indian paintbrushes against the little persons' bench.
Rain lilies.
Poppy bursting.
Strawberry sizzle geranium.
Verbena and dianthus.
East facing bed.
White pansies and sunset-colored snapdragons.
Coral honeysuckle.
The Lady Banks Rose is about to put on a major show.

this is amazing!

Just received this in my in-box:

Dear Kitchen Gardener,

(Begin pinching yourself now)

"Obamas to Plant White House Vegetable Garden"

On Friday, March 20th, 2009, 23 third graders will join First Lady Michelle Obama on the South Lawn of the White House to break ground on an 1100 square foot kitchen garden that will provide food for family dinners and formal dinners.

According to the New York Times:

The Obamas' garden will have 55 varieties of vegetables grown from organic seedlings started at the executive mansion's greenhouses.

And better still:

Almost the entire Obama family, including the president, will pull weeds, whether they like it or not, Mrs. Obama said laughing.

Ok, you can stop pinching yourself: you aren't dreaming this and an off batch of sauerkraut hasn't caused a rare case of lacto-fermentation-hallucination.

irish soda bread!

We're having a little St Patty's gathering tomorrow, so I delved into some baking. I used this recipe for Irish Soda Bread, and it is all I can do to keep from eating it right this very minute. It smells and looks delectable. Tomorrow we'll embark upon the boiled dinner!

full pond and finished orchard

What more could a girl ask? We stretched the fencing and attached the gates--all seems to be holding. And my man and his truck retrieved a Craigslist bench for some relaxing in the shade-to-be. I still have a passionflower vine to plant along the southern fence-line.

Finally some rain, though not a drought-buster yet. The sound of it pounding down on the roof was such a delight. Now we'll get some bullfrogs in the next few weeks!

The pears in the orchard have both leafed out (though not the ones up by the house--less sun??), as have the pomegranates. The poor pears did sustain some damage from the deer before we got the fence up. What an annoyance. Hopefully they will heal and remain vigorous. The jujubes, persimmons, and one fig have green buds and have popped a couple leaves each. The little Arbequina olive, well . . . we'll just have to see. It did not like all the violent wind we've had, and was tiny to begin with. I am considering moving it into a pot up by the house until it is a bit bigger and planting a quince in its place. Still pondering.

clothespin dolls

We were in Houston last weekend and, in addition to a delightful trip to the zoo, Nana and Miss A made clothespin dolls. Just way too adorable. I love watching how adept Miss A's hands are at dealing with those tiny materials. Yet another benefit of the Montessori approach. That and the ability to concentrate happily for extended lengths of time. Contrary to popular belief, I think that type of focus is something we LOSE over time, not something we gain. The natural state of the child is not hip-hopping from one moment to the next, never investing. It is enthralled fascination.

We actually attended an Open House at Miss A's school last weekend, and had such fun watching our daughter operate in another mode. Instead of behaving the same way she always does with us, she really changed in the Montessori environment, almost like she couldn't control the change, and exhibited a Zen-like calm as she gathered and worked with her materials. Check it out below.