smile

lessons from a great teacher...

                                                                lesson #1

                                                                    smile

zane grey, 40lb of ferocious

we had another visit from the bobcat last night.  woke up at 2am to what sounded like large claws on plywood and ducks panicking.  got up and out to the kitchen garden to see what was going on.  i don't usually let zane out until i know what we're dealing with but he shot past me (something he normally doesn't do) as soon as i got the door open and charged off growling and snarling to the back of the garden where the ducks are.  he flushed the bobcat out toward the greenhouse end of the garden but it couldn't find its way out and zane chased it back toward the other end.  i was afraid he'd be injured if he got the cat cornered between the house and the fence somewhere so i hollered at him to come to me, which he did immediately, i got him back in the house, and staal came out to make sure everything was okay.  at some point in all this the cat rushed past me and found its way over the garden fence in the corner near the greenhouse.   it's a good sized cat, nearly as tall as zane, and probably weighs between 20 and 30lb (zane weighs about 40lb) but even a 10lb house cat can do considerable damage to a dog if cornered and desperate.  after the cat left i looked around the duck enclosure to make sure everything was alright.  i wanted to open things up and look inside to make sure no one had been injured but since i didn't see any damage to the outside and since the flashlight was just panicking the ducks all over again i decided it would be better for me to let them be until morning rather than risk them injuring themselves just to make myself feel better.
took a couple hours to get back to sleep but i finally achieved a sort of a half-sleep until morning.  the ducks took some time to settle too and every time they got a little worked up i'd be wide awake again.  zane kept watch for a while, lying beside me on my pillow, looking out the window into the garden toward where the ducks are.  he's a good dog.

what he lacks in size he makes up for in spirit

 everyone was fine this morning, happy to be let out to stretch and flap and splash around.

hoping for less excitement tonight.

kale party

nice to have some friends who appreciate homegrown kale as much as i do...

pumpkins and squashes

i rounded up a few goodies in the orchard garden today...

first year growing the pumpkins here.  they're a beautiful variety called 'musquee de provence'.  i'll definitely be setting aside some space for them again next year.

monarch

from infinite perspectives

so long i walked in doubt and uncertainty
lost
questioning
but it was not the universe's job to name me
as if i were something apart from it
as if i were not the hummingbird
or the sunflower
or the dust of the earth
or the wind
or the rain
or the setting sun
or the shining light
in my love's clear blue eyes
which is also the sky
i am god's forgetting
of who he is
and his remembering
again and again
in an endless game
of hide-and-go-seek
as he opens his eyes
and looks upon himself
from infinite perspectives

watching ducks

they are not graceful                                      

they stumble about
like happy little feathered drunks
bumping and jostling and stepping
on each other
while they carry on noisily
and nearly
ceaselessly
no
they are not graceful
except
when they are swimming
or
in the case of the indian runner
when they are running
but
they are
full of a kind of grace
they are
pleasant                                                                    

endearing
contagiously joyous
benign
peaceful
earnest
and so
i think it most important work
to idle
watching ducks
as often as possible

duck shed (framing)

i've slowly been picking my way through getting the duck shed built.  i've got the framing pretty much done now.  like i said before, it's built out of some really gnarly lumber, but even though it isn't pretty it's quite sturdy. 

heaven at 3,000ft (happy birthday, staal)

sitting in the front yard
with you
in the cool of the evening
drinking in the green of the grass
watching ducks make merry mischief
and counting subarus
near as i can figure
this must be heaven


each day with you is a gift.  i can't imagine anywhere i'd rather be or anyone i'd rather be with.  i'm so very happy here, sharing in this life with you and i hope you have found some happiness in it as well.

happy birthday, my love.  

best looking feed barn in the county

i helped staal get a coat of paint on the feed barn.  we couldn't find the exact colors we were looking for so we bought some that were close and staal worked his magic mixing up some custom colors. i love what he came up with.  it's bright and cheerful and it's one more thing that makes this place feel pleasant and cared for and alive.

here are a few before and after shots... 
 

after we finished the stucco and before we painted, staal poured a little slab in front of the door.  the door is just wide enough to accommodate the wheel barrow and the slab makes rolling in and out nice and smooth.

the building is now very tight and very sound thanks to all of staal's hard work.  and i think it looks pretty spiffy too.

a man and his ducks