When Lilacs Last in Dooryard Bloomed....again

Lilacs are my favorite flower.....I planned a wedding around them.....I've always measured the passage of time by them.  It was one of the many reasons I chose to live in the house we live in.  I wish I had thought about ventilation.....good storage.....something a little more practical then a really cool attic and lilacs....but I digress.

Last year I wrote about "When Lilacs Last in Dooryard Bloomed"....I talked about the poem by Walt Whitman and the stress and joy that went into planning our sweet wedding.....and I find that once again I am taken in by the beauty of the lilacs that are blooming in our door yard....and how again my life has changed so dramatically.

When the lilacs were last in our yard blooming....I was remembering our wedding....but I was also looking forward to a beautiful Summer ahead of us....I was looking forward to breeding our young goats, and finding a way to balance having a full-time job off Island with the life I was trying to build here on our hill.

This year, we decided not to breed our goats.  We decided we wanted to have a milking space built and be better prepared for the ups and downs which come from raising goats.  And so we have our young goats who are very spoiled and who we walk around the property with.  They are a joy and a pleasure to share this space with.

Unfortunately, we have more lilacs this year than last, because we lost their mamma last Summer, and because she loved to eat the lilacs we put her beneath the lilac tree and Gordon planted one just for her.....and it's blooming.....and it reminds us of our sweet Layla who shared just a small bit of time here on Wabi Sabi Hill.

This year I am devoting my time to our hill.....I'm making jelly with the blossoms from our tree....and other jellies and am learning to spin....and crochet....and am planting beautiful things in our garden to share with my beautiful husband at his restaurant....and so I guess I feel more like a farmer than I did last year....and we are one step closer to "living off the fat of the land".

And so today, as I was planting and smelling the lilacs on our tree....and I noticed lilacs brewing in their "tea" so I can make some jelly...again....I feel thankful for the lilacs that in my door yard bloom.....I sit next to them....drinking a beer my husband made....watching the goats who next year will be mammas and I thank the Universe....God....for all that we have been entrusted with.  And I look forward to what next Spring brings our way.....and I am forever thankful for the man who took my hand in May of 2012 and became contractually obligated to share this beautiful life.

Discoveries

Today was spent outside....Gordon did some mowing....I weed whacked....and did some planting and some weeding.  he last few weeks while weeding the herb garden, I've noticed some plants that I thought were our nasturtiums that got moved by the cat, or had gotten pushed down by the rain.

Today I was out there again and I noticed that they were getting bigger, and I wondered if maybe they were mint plants that I had planted last year and they got rototilled somewhere else.

But today, I was looking at them....I noticed that it seemed that the slugs and snails were maybe munching on my sweet little plants, and so I grabbed a leaf and tasted it....it wasn't minty, so I wondered.....I pulled out the plant and I discovered a little radish on the bottom....so....for some reason that I can't even fathom...rogue radishes are growing there.

And the other discovery I made today, while cleaning out the goat house, I was yelling to get the girls away from my strawberry plants (I yelled so loud that Gordon heard me at the restaurant)....so I got them away from the same strawberry plant they have pulled out 5 times so far.....I shut the gate and walked over to my lilac bush.....the prized tree on our beautiful hill.....I noticed that the blossoms are blooming.....what a beautiful acknowledgement of Earth Day......things are coming together on our hill.  Very very excited.

Dandelion Picking

This morning I woke up with the realization that there was nothing that HAD to be done today.  That's not to say there was nothing to do....there was lots to do....but I had the luxury of choosing what I would do.  And so, because the ground was still wet, but I wanted to be outside, I decided to pick dandelions for a batch of jelly I wanted to make.

One of the beautiful things about being a Jam Maker is that is really slows your seasons down.  Your life is not just divided by the 4 Seasons, it is divided into mini season....seasons within seasons.  You watch for signs that the berry or fruit, or in my case, flower that you want to make a jam or jelly with is beginning it's life.  You see strawberries long before the berries are ripe.  You look for the tiny blackberries that come long before blackberry season is here.  When you're at the Farmer's Market you look for the beginning of Tay Berry Season, and Raspberry Season.  Well....I've been watching the dandelions with the same intensity.  I have to say that it has been very interesting.  I've learned that they close up at night like any other flower.....that they really just look like Sunflowers that don't have the seeds in the middle and that they are really a very beautiful flower.

And so today I set my mind to picking dandelions.  So, I looked for the best patch (which wasn't hard to find because I have got a bumper crop this year) and I began to pick.  I found myself lost in the picking.  I began to think of people I know who need prayer....my Father-In-Law....my mom....people I know and love.  I listened to the sound of Charley's collar and felt his beautiful presence with me.....I listened for the goats and was aware of where they were.....and I thought of my Grandmother, Signe, whose family came to Whidbey Island from Norway.....and how she would be proud of me picking dandelions to make a jelly.  It felt like something she would do....something women probably did during the Depression....I thought of Ma Joad and all the characters from "The Grapes of Wrath" and how this would have been a luxury for them to have to time to pick dandelions, cut the greens from the flower, and make a jelly.

I watched the bugs who were affected by my picking....the black spiders, the weird looking bugs whose name I don't know....and I even thought of Monsanto and RoundUp and how this was maybe my way of standing up to them....I need these so called weeds....I'm going to make a tasty jelly with them....and with that jelly I will be able to maintain the lifestyle that Charley, Corky, Nigel, Cali and Daisy have grown accustomed to.   So "good day to you Monsanto" I said.

I guess this is the beauty of "living off the fat of the land".....the ability to slow down and connect with what you're going to eat.....to pick it, spend 2 hours cutting it.....and eventually eating it and sharing it with the people you love.

And so today I am thankful for the dandelions that live in my yard....and all the creatures that call our little hill home....and for the God who created it so that I could share it with all the creatures He/She put in this spot right now.

The Zen of Just Having to Clean

I am a hideous housekeeper.....there are just 50 million other things I would rather do....so it's something I swing through on Saturdays.

But, because I have ADD (decidedly without the hyper part of it) it turns into a story like "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie".  If Kaycee is cleaning her kitchen she will see the copper pills and remember that her goats need a copper treatment.  If she goes outside, she will see that the wind has blown about the starts containers she is incapable of throwing away.....if she looks for starts containers, she will notice that the dahlia bed still needs to be weeded, so she'll start weeding the dahlia bed, and then she'll remember she wants to make dandelion jelly, and so she'll go inside to get a basket for the dandelions and chances are, if she goes inside to get a basket, she'll realize that her kitchen needs to be cleaned....

And so today I decided that the only thing I will do is clean the house, and I am focusing on one room at a time and when my mind wanders, I remind myself that this is what I am doing, this room right now.....and I feel like I am accomplishing a lot....and it feels good.  It's good to know that the starts containers, the copper treatment and the dahlia bed and dandelion jelly will wait.....today is cleaning day, and this is what I want to accomplish today.....and it feels good to bring myself back to this task.

And to me, the girl with ADD who would rather do 50 million other things than clean her house, this is a blessing and a joy.

On the Eve of Change.....Again

Last September Gordon and I made the decision that I would leave my job in Everett for a job with less pay, and less hours so that I could be close to home....close to our babies.....and closer to my dreams and my passion....creating a space for my creatures.

In the mean time....or maybe during that time, a good friend and mentor suggested that I start making floral jellies....she offered her help and support to make a good business out of it.  I listened and then put that on the back burner.

And so I worked at my job....met some great people and even some who again really put a fire under the idea again, and really helped me find the Maker within me, along with this awakening I had, I also learned how to spin and crochet and I began to have these passions come out in me I didn't even realize I had.

 Well....Spring started to come to our little hill and the idea started coming back to me....so I started the ball rolling....in my very slow Kaycee fashion, figuring I would get things done this Summer and Spring, and I would work a my job and grow some veggies for Gordon, etc.

Two weeks ago, I had a chat with my supervisor and she let me know that they were going to have to lay me off.  At first I was worried, I didn't know how I was going to tell Gordon....I didn't know how we were going to make it....but as the initial shock wore off, I realized I was given an amazing opportunity to do the things that only seemed like a dream....and how things have been in my life, I have been given the opportunity to make my dream a reality.....I may fall flat on my face, but I have a Summer to figure it out....before I found out I was going to lose my job, I was talking with my friend about this dream and she told me there comes a point that you have to just jump on the train and take the risk and make it happen.....and as the case with me and the Universe, I was basically told, this is it....jump or walk away....and so I am jumping, I'm going to try it....and because my sweet husband is behind me and I have been blessed with amazing friends who are also behind me, I may just succeed.

And so today, as I was at my last "Team Meeting" and we spent a few minutes talking about my plans, I realized how much I will miss this group of women I have spent the last 6 months with....their friendship.....the way we worked together to create an amazing space for our charges to explore and learn.....I will miss the kiddos, their dramas and joys.

And as I stood under our maple, planting hops I looked up and thanked the Universe for this amazing opportunity.....and I took a deep breath and had Wabi Sabi Hill embrace me and welcome me to the next installment of this beautiful journey.

Knowing Where Things Come From

Today I went to visit my friend at the place where she is starting a fiber mill....we went into a space where she has her spinning and weaving things along with some of her yarn.

We sat and talked....I worked on spinning some yarn....learning the craft....and she began a weaving project while we listened to Carly Simon, Simon and Garfunkle and all other singers from the 70's on her record player.  We just hung out.

It was an amazing way to spend a late morning/early afternoon.  I'm in the middle of a big transition in my life.  I'm being laid off from my job but everyone I talk to feels like it's a great thing, it's an opportunity for me to make my dreams come true....the garden....our hill....my jelly....all the things I hold dear to my heart are things that I could try to make a living doing.....it's the push the Universe is giving me to stand on my feet and do what I say I want to do.....I'm excited and nervous....and find myself feeling exhausted on this gloomy Saturday, but when I was sitting with my friend, and we worked with fiber it all felt OK....and we talked about how the world could be a better place if people just knew where their stuff came from.

Of course, it's important to know where your food comes from.....to make mindful choices around what you put in your body, and to buy your food locally and as much in it's natural state as you can....and when you garden or raise chickens or beef it helps you realize all that goes into what you're eating.....but why not take it a step further.....learn to make cheese and butter.....know what it takes to make your car run....understand how clothing is made, even how the fabric for your clothes is made.....maybe you don't need to crochet sweaters for your children out of wool you harvested from your own sheep.....but just understanding the process helps you understand the importance of quality....and when you buy even those things as locally as possible your are supporting your neighbor and your community.

When you know how to change the oil in your car it makes it easier to understand the basics of an engine and when something goes wrong you understand better what is causing that....not that you need to fix it, but you can be a more informed consumer.

Anyway.....I guess it's all about getting back to basics....about slowing down.....making jam all Summer as you wait for each berry group to ripen....it slows your life down and you're better able to enjoy each moment of your life instead of waiting for the next big event.

Just some thoughts from a girl in the heart of transition.