A (sort of) Update

We've had some smoke from forest fires in the vicinity, but the past day and a half it's been pretty nice and somewhat clear! Huzzah!! I'm so grateful! It's been cooling off at night and we've had some amazing sunsets that we'll be able to enjoy if the clearing keeps up.

I've got some tomatoes in the garden, some cucumbers, and summer squashes. Since our move in May (yes, we moved again!), I didn't want to do too much for gardening, considering we'd already have our hands full with house stuff and property and chickens. I'm glad we didn't bite off more than we could chew in that respect, especially since we aren't even unpacked completely and it's August! HA!

We have a lot of chickens! These are the breeds we have: Black Australorp, Plymouth Barred Rock, Ameraucana, Light Brahma (gentle giants, one is a rooster known as Lord Grantham), Cuckoo Marans (dark chocolate eggs, when they finally lay), White-crested Black Polish (black body, white afro of feathers on top, one is also a roo, the hen will lay white eggs), a few bantams (mini hens), for good measure! I love our chickens!!! We chose them based on egg color, temperament, and overall beauty/interesting features...Kat is the chicken whisperer still and she is so good with them. I do the morning chore of feeding them, mostly to make sure they have the right amounts of things and I can keep better track of our supplies, but she let's them out and tucks them in at night and is always willing to bring them scraps, or treats, or just go hang out with them. Oh, and we mustn't forget her help in keeping those rooster boys in check!

Right now, Papa and Nina are making salt pickles the old=fashioned way, mostly because the fresh dill at the market has been awful for me to can any for the winter just yet. These past couple of years, there is a trend in favorites of foods I can, which seem to be dill pickles, spiced peach sauce, spiced apple maple butter and applesauce, and salsa verde.They get eaten like nobody's business! The last jar of canned pickles is in the fridge right now, so these salt pickles and some of Jay's refrigerator pickles should hold us over until the new batch is ready to eat in a couple of months.

Alright, I'm getting hungry for a snack, so I'd better get on top of it before I lose my chance and it's too close to dinner! Later gators!!

Since

I have come to realize in these passing days since the loss of my dad, I have been the most undone and more completely myself I have ever been, though I haven't yet risen from the ashes just yet...

There seem to be more grounding experiences in the process of grief, than those that seem uplifting, considering the lack of high points as were previously known, but it's been a solid and purpose-filled journey, not matter the heartache. I have been at the lowest within myself I have ever delved and also the most honest. I have given up and taken that next step...

This is what fuels our lives, this amazing love and connection we have with those around us. We can't always choose with whom we will connect, only God knows who that will be. We cannot even fathom the depth of our connections when we are bound in this flesh.

I am drawn to the rugged piece of humanness that offers a reality only love and loss can provide, for it has more truth in this life than all words and confrontation. I believe in a life that is both tethered and free, immense and measurable, but so drastically beyond all that we can comprehend, imagine, and absorb.

Back On!

So we've refurbished the old laptop, saving a truckload of money, instead of buying a new one, and I'm back online and hopefully ready to write. I miss it. After all of these months that have included the loss of a few family friends, my grandma, and my beloved daddy, I think I am ready to just back in full force.

This refurbish is brought to you by Jay and Misha, without whom, I may not be able to spew my thoughts on the wide world of interwebz. :)

Eep! I am way more excited than I thought I would be!!!

Thickness

There is fluidity

There is life

There is all that comes with night

The calm

The dark

The electric vibrance 

A peaceful weight upon the soul