Saturday, November 29, 2008

happy compost day

yesterday while scotty went mountain biking, i decided it was a perfect day to do my compost project that i've been putting off. i started our compost trash can back in april when we moved into the house. it has been breaking down all these months and it was high time to turn it and make a larger area for compost. so i found materials that i had leftover from making the sfg garden and put together a big compost area. i raked the spot i wanted to put it in to make sure there were no walnuts since i'd read that they would make my compost toxic, especially to tomatoes. it was the first time in months that i've really worked my body like i know it needs to be worked. i hammered posts and shovelled compost as well as the dirt from the flower garden in the front yard that i have no desire to do again, and added it to the compost pile, walked from the front yard to the back yard a dozen times...it felt really good. the compost trash can was sooo full, i had to fill a 5 gallon bucket over and over to move it all. when i got to the middle there was this wonderful earthy smell. it was really dirt down there!! and egg shells. mental note to crush them better from now on. it was so nice out that i eventually took off my jacket and then my sweater...i was in a tank top...outside, it felt so nice!!! anyway, here are some pix:


the "cage"

the old bin

pile of "stolen" grass clippings drying out for layering in compost

me shoveling out the compost to move it


getting down to the good stuff

it's DIRT!! (and eggshells!)

finally done!!! i put one of my extra garden cages on top to keep out walnuts dropping and critters.

p.s. yes, we did get together with family and friends for thanksgiving...and had a wonderful time. i actually had some really good conversations with my sisters. after eating with family we went to asheville to have a pie party with alice's family and some friends...

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Monday, November 24, 2008

all these things...

"i don't even know if i like them or if they like me-we've hardly spent any time together and yet there's all this love, love, love. how can you love somebody you just met, somebody you've never asked a real question, somebody you've never had to forgive or who's never had to forgive you?"
-rayona taylor (11 years old) from "the window" by michael dorris

what does it mean to really be connected to someone? i have felt disconnected from most people nearly all my life. never fully being able to really attach myself. i've let people drift out of my life so easily so many times i wonder if there isn't something terribly wrong with me. but in the last year i have found myself deeply connected to people after meeting only a few times. most recently our new friends who just moved out here from LA...we met in september at the live and learn conference and have been very connected ever since. and our friends in our homeschooling group who are very much a part of our family now. i think you really can love someone instantly. it's rare but it does happen. something i've had to accept over the last few years is that no matter how much you love someone that not all relationships last forever. if the people that are in my life right now someday slip away and out of my life, it will just be another step in the lifelong journey. i do not want it to happen but i know that it sometimes does.

in case i haven't said it lately to all my friends, past and present...i love you all, always.Share

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

a long time coming

i've been on a bit of a blog hiatus lately. we had an amazingly busy few weeks that i'm still recovering from. we had friends in town staying with us (even managed to convince them to move here, they're gone now but will be back next week with a u-haul that we'll help unload..wink wink), had an unschooler gathering up in roan mountain, then came home for some more hanging out, a little asheville trip to see more friends, and then a birthday/anniversary potluck party at our house. it's been a wild ride and in the midst of it all, scotty lost his job. i am grateful to my friends and family right now for their support and love. here are some slide shows to look at in case you've got an entire day with nothing else to do but look at pictures...because there are a ton...enjoy!!

the gavins and halloween with "the rens":




ARGH gathering on roan mountain (not kidding, a million pix here!):



just hanging out:


birthiversary...november 15th was silas' 11th birthday as well as our 14th anniversary:

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