Birthday Joy
wahoo!!! (it has been a wonderful, drama-free day)
Good Stuff
because I may be 38 but I still have my sass!
(my most wee post, ever)
Maine is Wicked Inexpensive Cheap
check out this!!! (on 5 acres, too)
and look-y here! (also 5 acres!)
and this is just down the road from us (on the stream!!!)
Self Portrait Challenge
(Sept: self portrait with someone else)
Here I am with Roo this afternoon.
She is telling me about the soft, dark birds flying overhead
and how soon it will be fall
and about an orange pumpkin, over there on the porch.
and she tells me about the passing of the dark blackberries and
the harvesting of the garden.
and she tells me, “look mummy, I see Jesse and he is running
so fast he is going to fly!”
and I believe her.
Truth is in the believing.
I’m Not the Hobbling Type
(OR:”drat this broken toe, I’ve got stuff to do!”)
Yes, I am not always good at slowing down when I need to. It is especially challenging right now as I have a multitude of foods to be canned and chores to do. I keep telling myself to listen to my body and rest but my head is running the show and so I hobble about.
Little Happy List
For those who inquired as to how I broke this digit, I could tell you that I:
Guesses?
Russian Olive berries (they taste like a cranberry-strawberry-rhubarb berry)
wild grapes
apples
my baby (cider press)
pretty little pears
Today, Jesse was a SPY.
And Roo was a joyful jumper
and butterflies hatched
and things blossomed, as they do.
Today was another ordinary, amazing day.
(warning; mushy, sentimental post)
Wedding Pictures, With Cake
(or: how to have a wedding for less than $1000.00)
this post inspired by the always amusing emilymr
*****
Trevor and I were married 10 years ago this Nov. We were living in Arizona at the time, building our house made of straw but very much wanted to be married in Maine.
And so we did.
We planned it 8 weeks in advance; we rented a small grange hall in a tiny coastal town, made invitations to send to our very dearest friends and family and called a local Notary Public.
My dear friend, Jenny, made the cake of our dreams
my sister and I made the arrangements and my bouquet
We went to the ocean at sunset, with only our parents and my sister and her husband as witnesses
for us, this was such a private moment
and we were married there
(my mother was so sweet in her little wool hat)
afterward, we went back to the hall where our loved ones were waiting. I spent the two days prior to the ceremony cooking and preparing the food, so it was ready and waiting.
We hired a few servers from a local lobster house to pass food and drink around and a local contra dance band provided the music for dancing.
We all danced together and it was so very, very joyful.
My stepfather sang “Always” and “Hotter Than Mojave in My Heart” for us
and it was perfect.
I know some people would consider our wedding to be far too casual and less-than-perfect; we spent little money, everything was home made and the wine was not the most expensive we could find.
However, it was perfect for us. It was perfect because he wore his very favorite t-shirt and chamois and new sneakers because this pleased him. It was perfect because I wanted to dress up more and do my hair and wear lovely things and I did. In this, we honored and supported who we truly are as individuals and entered into this marriage believing in this.
And this is why it still works for us, we love each other for who we really, honestly are.
And there is a great deal of truth in that.
Always
I’ll be loving you, Always
With a love that’s true, Always.
When the things you’ve planned
Need a helping hand,
I will understand, Always.
Always.
Days may not be fair Always,
That’s when I’ll be there Always.
Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But Always.
I’ll be loving you, oh Always
With a love that’s true Always.
When the things you’ve planned
Need a helping hand,
I will understand Always.
Always.
Days may not be fair Always,
That’s when I’ll be there Always.
Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But Always.
Not for just an hour,
Not for just a day,
Not for just a year,
But Always.”
~Irving Berlin
Hotter Than Mojave In My Heart by Iris Dement
Oh, Baby!!!
I just wanted to post a few of these before I head back out the door for the evening.
The photo shoot went fine although I feel like I missed something; like I did well but didn’t quite “get it”.
Not sure what that is.
But, oh the 5 day old baby smell and the baby softness and the big sister sweetness, too.
You know you are in the presence of something amazing when you are this close to one so very, very new.
Self Portrait Challenge
(September’s challenge: self portrait with someone else)
This picture was taken in 2003 when we were living in Arizona; Jesse was 3 years old and Roo had yet to arrive.
This picture means a great deal to me as it represents the beginning of my self portrait journey.
I spent the majority of my adulthood feeling badly that I had few pictures taken of myself (my husband is not the picture taking sort). I always attributed this to my less-than-perfect looks and felt badly for myself about the whole affair.
But then I had Jesse.
I very much wanted pictures of he and I together to preserve those brief and blurry moments; I knew pictures would help me to piece the memories together.
In the process of capturing these images I realized how much time I wasted feeling sorry for myself and how much better I could use my time figuring out ways to take self portraits that would have meaning and truth.
And I have never looked back.
(thanks, Jesse!)
Here we go Looby-Lou
(or: Back From Camp)
Here we are, back from a few days of canoeing and fishing and sleeping.
We came home to a brimming garden and I have spent this afternoon freezing broccoli, simmering down tomatoes into pizza sauce and harvesting the last of the corn for eating/freezing.
We are glad to be home.
Tomorrow we will spend with our (hard-to-find-and-ever-so-precious) local unschooling friends; it will be wonderful for the kids and even better for their mamas.
Pictures will be taken.
On Wed, I have a photo shoot with a less-than-a-week-old baby. Her mama wants shots of her babe with umbilical stump still attached (fingers crossed that it remains).
Could I be more lucky?!?
~~~~~~~
In other news…
Mama squirrel moving her babies
(someone get that mama a sling, she’s going to be picking fuzz out her teeth all night!)
keep your eyes on the squirrel
blue spotted salamander
rocket man
at the lake
I hope your weekend was wonderful!!
P.S. thanks EVER so much for the reading recommendations, I will check them out!
Because I Blog 7 Days a Week
*****
I am hiding out by the computer as I am cranky and in a bit of pain; Jesse and I were building a toy rocket for him and he pumped the pressure up while I was bent over it and the rocket smacked me in the eye. It thuds/burns but will be fine in a bit. I won’t be posting for 2-3 days as I am heading over to a friend’s house this evening to watch her children and then I am heading to my parent’s camp in the AM for a few days.
Juice
A word to the wise, do not attempt to make juice concentrate on your “anniversary” as you may forget the pot while it simmers on the stove and fills the house with smoke (because the kids are in bed and the love of your life is a great kisser).
We had fun anyway; I can always find time to make juice but quiet time alone with Trev is hard to come by.
Incidentally, we met in 1986 while cooking at the same restaurant in college. I was immediately drawn to him by his intelligence and wit and we became fast friends. I kept busy dating less-than-ideal men and so we didn’t go out then. Fast forward 6 years later (after keeping in touch while we both travelled) we reconnected and damn, did he seem great. And he was and he is and so here we are, 14 years later and married for 10 of them (that anniversary is in Nov, anyone want to babysit? )
Crafting
I will use these flannels to make some pjs for Roo.
I am using these three cotton fabrics to make aprons for Roo, my niece and my sister.
What Are You Reading?
*****
I’ve said this before but I will say it again, I read a lot. I am always beginning 3-5 books while I am finishing a few others. I try and find a few 1/2 hour blocks during the day when I can read while the kids are content to play alone. And then I read in the evening when I am not packing books.
While the days fly by and there seems to be little free time, I still manage to read what I’d like. Although, I will say it has been ages since I spent the day reading but this is the way things are with small children.
my current reads:
Some of my favorite reads from the last decade
“Geek Love” by Katherine Dunn (if you like this book as MUCH as I do, then I cannot help but fall in love with you) 
“Red Azalea” by Anchee Min
“As I lay Dying” by William Faulkner
“The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
“In The Time of Butterflies” by Julia Alvarez
“Blood Meridian” by Cormac Mccarthy
“The Stone Diaries” by Carol Shields
“The Hours” by Michael Cunningham
“Written on The Body” by Jeanette Winterson
“A Thousand Acres” by Jane Smiley
“Empire Falls” by Richard Russo
“Life Of Pi” by Yann Martel
“Ahab’s Wife” by Sena Jeter Naslund
“The Lovely Bones” by Alice Seabold
“Memoirs of a Geisha” by Arthur Golden
“Balzac and The Little Chinese Seamstress” by Dai Sijie
“The God of Small Things” by Arundhati Roy
“We Were the Mulvaneys” by Joyce Carol Oates
“A Staggering Work of Heartbreaking Genius” by David Eggers
NONFICTION:
“Winter”, “The Ninemile Wolves”, “The Book of the Yaak” (ANYTHING!) by Rick Bass
“Oranges”, “The Pine Barrens”, “The Survival of The Bark Canoe” (ANYTHING!) by John McPhee
“Expecting Adam” by Martha Beck
“The Liars Club” by Mary Karr
“Nickel and Dimed” by Barbara Ehrenreich
“Bastard Out of Carolina” by Dorothy Allison
“Travelling Mercies” by Anne Lamott
“When I was Puerto Rican” by Esmeralda Santiago
“Naked”, “Me Talk Pretty One Day”, (anything!) by David Sedaris
“Breath, Eyes, Memory” by Edwidge Danitcat
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So, what have you read lately, any recommendations?
Hope your weekend is all peaches and cream.
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