mantis meditation

last night there was a praying mantis just outside the window at the head of the bed.  other than being interesting to see it there, it also felt auspicious somehow---as if it was saying a prayer for this place---serenely hanging upside-down in insect meditation.

 it was still there this morning.

in the garden

some beautiful things happening in the garden...

i've been putting up twine for snow peas and beans to climb

red-leaf lettuces

tatsoi

basil and arugula

dill and beans

beetle in his burrow

crab spider on oleander leaf

tomatoes and lemon cucumbers from the neighbors---thanks jeff and charla

and a little food porn...

magnificent weenies and eggs

a few pictures

one of my dark cornish from the freezer.  staal did a beautiful job with it on the grill.

mmm..tastes like chicken

we planted oleanders along the fence line this morning

i had a helper

happy planter

just because it's 2:30 in the afternoon doesn't mean it isn't breakfast.

delicious pork patties with greens from the garden

the sun still shines

forget your nightmares of rabid dogs
they know not why they bite
open your eyes and your heart
the sun still shines
and birds still sing
and this garden has no room for those kinds of weeds

accepting the imponderables

my life is a mystery beyond any capability of reckoning my mind posseses
maybe there are things that cannot be known
the imponderables
and maybe there's no reason to try
but instead just accept and be grateful for what is
and i am grateful
grateful not just for all the joy and the beauty
but for the suffering and the terrible as well
it's all one
every success and every difficulty
has made me what i am
and urges me to cultivate my strengths and to grow from my failings
just as he does
that marvelous man with shining blues eyes who came one day to find me
and love me
despite my failings
who inspires me daily to be more than i thought i could
to love bigger than i've ever known
a love that breaks the heart open
and finds it's way into all that i do and all that i am
so that even the pain of life cannot be seen but in the shadows of this love
i don't understand it
don't understand how i came to be so blessed
and maybe i shouldn't question it
just live in it
and be grateful

lessingia

getting to know the natives...

Lessingia

summer night

the pale glow of the moon

settles over quiet limbs

like silver dew

crickets chant a late summer mantra

the chime sounds on the cool, autumn-rumored breeze

happy birthday, mama!

i love you

a few beautiful things

beauty surrounds us---we just have to take the time to see it.  i'm grateful for all the beautiful things in my life...

coyotes

we heard coyotes for the first time since we moved up here.  used to here them just about every night at the ranch and i was starting to miss it a little.  they had a pretty good concert going around 5:00 this morning---yipping and yowling and upsetting all the dogs in the area.  zane couldn't seem to decide whether he was on the defense or wanting to join in---he grumbled and growled and gave a couple of little half-barks that turned into somewhat noncommittal howls.  i stayed awake watching the morning light go from pale blue-gray to gold and listening to the birds in their morning chorus.  nice.

mulberry leaves

the light through the mulberry leaves this morning was beautiful.  the upper leaves cast shadows on the lower leaves and they looked like leaves within leaves.

 

the five remembrances

i find number 5 especially meaningful...

...no matter which direction you're shoveling manure there will always be a breeze to blow it back in your face.

the difference between work and play

i don't know if i know the difference between work and play---i often have so much fun with the things i'm working at that it feels like play.  i think that's a good thing.  yesterday was a busy and enjoyable day. in the morning we went to the neighbor's and got some goodies.

i shoveled horse manure

and found some wild turkey feathers

staal split wood

i repotted some trees and other plants and spruced up the doorway that leads from the kitchen/dining room out to the garden.

staal did a little remodeling in the bathroom

it was a beautiful day in a beautiful place with a beautiful person. 

fig

found a treat this morning on one of my little potted fig trees

mission fig