Little inspirations

Don't you wish you could snooze like that? This cat inspires me. She shows up on our doorstep one cold Christmas Eve. From the start she let us know what she wanted. Sometimes food, sometimes just a good rubdown, other times a door she wants opened. She persists loudly until she gets what she wants . . . oblivious to any eye rolls, sighs or insults hurled her way. She at times seems unsettled and nervous, but she'll soon work it out and just sack out with her belly in the. She is a spectacular hunter by night and by day she perfects the art of lounging and being a housecat. If only we all could take such easy care of ourselves.


Another odd bit of inspiration hit me today as I was refilling the hand soap in the bathroom. I was pouring from a huge refill container into the small dispenser. I realized that if I tried to rush this process I just made a mess of it. And when I slowed down and just let the soap take its time trickling (slow, but steady) that it all went along smoothly . . .no glubs, no mess . . .just nice and easy. And the light filtering through the blue ribbon was really very beautiful . . .almost peaceful. I'm thinking I ought to approach life more this way, because isn't life so much cleaner and more enjoyable when we just relax and do things at a natural pace and enjoy the view along the way? Every time I try to hurry it up I end up making a mess. So for today, it's all about being the liquid soap.

I just like the irony of this picture. The wintery tree and the volleyball net and shower which clearly belong to summer. I used to see things like this and miss summer . . . but now I'm more patient and can happily wait. Because really, if summer came tomorrow then we'd miss Spring. And Spring is not so great unless you've just finished Winter. I'm finally learning to appreciate the necessity and beauty of the cycles of life. It's a simple thing, but it sure has taken me awhile to catch on.

On to February

Lots of Canadian Geese have been flying over lately. Some in such large masses that the whole family is drawn out to the deck to look at the sky in awe with our mouths agape. Only after we made it back inside unscathed did we realize that we were lucky to have escaped being pooped on. I like this picture because it is exactly like the season here . . .some clouds, some blue sky, always something alive and moving about and then the tree, still slumbering through winter and awaiting Spring's new leaves.

It snowed . . .again. At least this time Mother Nature had the courtesy to wait until the kids were already on their way to school. It's pretty, but really, we're done!

And another Superbowl Party under our belts. Small and lowkey (and cold . . .the heater in the barn went out) but fun. The kids are tired today. My body is tired from all the yuck I ate yesterday. Today I must purge the house of the tempting, bad for you stuff and head back to veggies and good food.

Hopefully, today will end our streak of bad appliance luck. Today we have the dishwasher repair man here and the barn heater man on his way. There is always the coffeemaker which must be mailed back today and the refrigerator which seems to have taken on a personality of its own and beeps randomly throughout the day and night. I'm afraid to even talk about how everything is fixed now, or wonder about what is next . . . because I'm sure it would be something.

Dance a Little Jig

I think the picture says it all. This was our first 40th b-day party in awhile (Happy 40th Matto!) and we had a great time. So much fun to hang out and be silly for a day. There is always the flip side, which is that as the day draws to a close you are pulled back to the responsibilities that await you at home. I have to remind myself that everyone is not out having fun like this all the time while I am at home doing family stuff--right?? And if we went out partying all the time it wouldn't be as much fun as it is when you only do it every so often. . .right??? (You can see I'm still working on convincing myself). I love the life I have . . . and sometimes you have to dabble a bit in what you've decided to forego, and miss it just a little bit.

Brrrrrr . . . .

Ok, so it's not THAT cold, but to my little personal thermometer it is too cold. Tonight I had to go out and lock up the chickens for the night. I had to layer on so many clothes before heading out that even my own dog (who stood there and watched me apply the layers) was spooked at the sight of me. (duh!) Even with my Michelan Man suit it was cold enough out there to encourage me to make it a slow jog. Slow jogs in the dark, over uneven surfaces with a dog running interference is simply a bad, bad plan. I did, however, manage to avoid the lone brick my son tossed off of the top of the tree fort today.

What I really want to know is why these chickens can't figure out how to lock themselves up safely at night. They have figured out how to remove all of our styrofoam insulator blocks from the crawlspace vents. They have figured out how to help themselves to the cat food stash in the garage. They have figured out how to break open the straw in the barn and build a nest. Yet, they can't seem to provide for their own basic safety. . . . go figure. Bird brains!

A Good Kind of Tired

This is what 'the spot' looked like when my day started . . . .I spent the day fetching, transporting and then planting ten 30 year old blueberry bushes. Now I can check off one more fulfilled compulsion. What is it with me and my ridiculous farming compulsions anyway?! At least this one was cheaper than the greenhouse is going to be.

I was too tired to take an 'after' picture so that will have to wait until tomorrow (yes, I really was THAT tired).

I am sore, dirty, hungry and tired tonight, but it is so satisfying knowing that it was energy expended toward something productive. Of course, now that I have 10 in the ground I am just certain that I need another 20 or so.

And I am so exhausted that I don't want to cook. What a waste . . .because we all know how good food tastes when we are really hungry, right? Well, wouldn't it be nice to have your own cooking taste THAT good? I wonder why it is that food always tastes better when someone else makes it, especially after a day of manual labor. Wait . . . that gives me an idea . . .maybe the next time I have dinner guests I'll run them ragged first--flat out exhaust them--and then feed them . . .they will LOVE my food that way. Hmmmm. I have to give this some serious thought.

You are my sunshine . . .

You gotta love the sun! It's been showing itself for almost a week now, and I still appreciate every moment of it. It's stirring the spring fever, but we still have so long until planting time . . . .or do we?

I finally located some mature blueberry bushes for sale. It seems they need to be moved and planted this weekend so I may be digging in the dirt sooner than anticipated. Another obsession to check off my list. I don't know why I 'have' to have blueberries (mature plants) but I do!


Even though it is sunny these days, I still can't bring myself to go running outside . . . I convince myself that I'm going to get really, really cold at the furthest point out in my run . . .then what would I do? Instead I headed to the Y again. I kinda wish peer pressure had a stronger effect on me--I would probably be in a lot better shape if I was afraid to walk out of a fitness class that I wasn't liking. But really . . .if the music isn't any good, why bother? (See how good I am with excuses?)