volunteers

a lot of people i talk to who know that i garden say that they don't because it's a lot of work.  i don't know if it is.  i suppose it all depends on how one goes about it and what one considers work.  i have spent many hours (days, weeks, months, years) in my gardens.  i don't think i've done much work.  i have planted trees and other perennials and sown some seeds.  i've built trellises and fences and dug and lined beds with wire to slow down the gophers.  i've researched plant varieties to see what might do well here.  i've hand-watered and mulched and set up a drip irrigation system.  i have been occupied in my gardens.  i haven't grown a single thing.  i don't know how to do that.  i do what i can to steward an environment that is favorable for the plants that i would like to see growing here but the plants grow on their own. 

last year's fallen seed left undisturbed, the january garden is full of volunteers:

a woodpecker answers

beneath live oaks
an afternoon building gates
my hammer finds a rhythm
driving nails
like a message sent in morse code
high away in a pine tree
a woodpecker
answers

happy anniversary to us (photobooth series)

3 years...

we hold together


the tray of nuts and bolts in the garage
a collection years in the making
your capable hands
put them to use
mending, joining, creating
building a new life in an old house
so much that needs to be held together
each piece does its part
each one half of a whole
and either on its own loses its purpose
some a bit rusty or tool-worn
but still they hold together
as we hold together
strong and sure


today marks the 3rd anniversary of the day staal and i got married.  we moved to our little house in the pines 6 months after we were wed and we've put a lot of work into making it a comfortable, beautiful, and functional place for ourselves.  
on saturday afternoon i spent a little time doing some stone carving---a craft i started teaching myself several years ago but haven't done much of recently.  i wanted to make a little something for staal for our anniversary, something that would symbolize us, our life together, and all the hard work, creativity, and nuts and bolts, we've put into it.

soapstone nut and bolt

happy anniversary, staal.  i love you.

sycamore

ducks to water

the ducks discovered the creek this afternoon.  they had a great time splashing and foraging and we had a great time watching them.

duck eggs and other marvelous things

we've had a couple of days of great rainfall.  this morning i went out to find the rain gauge completely full/overflowing, a light dusting of snow on the ground, and our first duck egg.