crafty melty plastic

Remember this fun fine-motor skill activity? Great for busy little hands.

the heat

It has been roasting hot the past week or so, and the heat will continue. But the breeze does not let up. That is our saving grace.

We had to say goodbye to our Francesca. A raccoon or cat snatched her and left her beheaded beneath some bushes in the chicken run. It is sort of my fault because I left the coop open (even though the fence to the run was closed--and, I thought, impassible) because Francesca had been finding her way out in the mornings to peck about anyway, and I did not want her to be without water or without a way of getting back under cover should she need to. (Chickens are not so smart and just because she got out, she could not necessarily get back in.) She was a good head honcho chicken and I think the other two girls miss her. They seem a little less lively, a little less secure. I think she may have passed defending them. Mostly I don't really want to think about it too much. But I do batten down the hatches at night now, and the other two biddies are too chicken to explore as much as Francesca did. We will probably build a hyper-secure run (with a top) and acquire a replacement in the next few weeks. Aurora is convinced that it is a frog that got Francesca.

Anyhow. YAY OBAMA. Some good news. What a historical moment.

libraries and linocuts (and the plague)

We have all been dreadfully ill the past couple weeks and are just now returning to the land of the living. We all ended up on antibiotics for one reason or another. It stunk. It was like groundhog day. Each morning we would wake up expecting to feel better and then--NOT. But, thanks to the wonders of modern medicine, we seem to have survived.

To pass the time, Aurora and I did some linocuts together. She is a gifted abstract artist. I think she just loves the feeling of the lino-rubber as it cuts. It is quite satisfying. We tried layering some images too, batik style, and that was kinda fun.

We also went to the Bee Cave library and Aurora got her own library card. What a milestone. We checked out "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble" and some other winners. They also had, on DVD, The Gnome Mobile!!!!! I was so excited.

building blocks

Grandma Sue gave Aurora some of those awesome cardboard building blocks (remember those from your childhood??) that will allow her to build life-size castles and such. Demolition is as much fun as construction. Now I just have to find a place to store them . . . (The pictured castle was actually lovingly constructed by Uncle Andy.)

zeppo and trend forecasts

So . . . all chickens are still alive and clucking. Zeppo did have a go at Penelope once, though, but was loudly and emotionally dissuaded. It has yet to recur.

We have had many wonderful guests over the past week or so, both from my family and my hubby's. It is a pleasure to share our home with people we love. Everybody has a perspective on our upcoming renovation and on what our priorities should be with regard to the land, the children, and the chickens. We are learning to filter.

My cousin also played in his first semi-pro soccer game last weekend with the Austin Aztex. I am so incredibly thrilled for him!

So, some of you may know that I am a bit of an amateur trend forecaster (I was dead on with butterflies, toadstools, jelly shoes, and owls, was I not??) So here are my predictions for 2008-09:
1 Missoni print stuff
2 Witchy, gothic cottage motifs (hansel and gretel style)
3 Hobnail glasses
4 Yurts
5 Hippie hair
6 station wagons, retro style, but without the gas-guzzling feature
7 Fringe (predicted this one a couple months ago and am already seeing it in the marketplace)
8 Skirts with huge pockets
9 Wrap skirts
10 Wellies/rain boots worn with everything
11 pigtails
12 travel to Germany and Belgium
13 Rainbow Brite, Smurfs, Snorks, Sea Wees (if you don't remember these, click http://members.tripod.com/%7Eseawee/seawees.html and you will be reminded)
14 lobster and greyhound motifs
15 going braless
16 steely purplish-blue (the color of cerinthe) in paint, clothes, fabric, cars
17 oilcloth (ok-this one is already starting the climb to stardom)
18 black velvet worn any time of year
19 headbands
20 silver and gold worn together
21 peace
22 Holly Hobbie

You may notice that many of these trends are drawn from the endless font of style that is my 3 year old.

adventures in chickens

We have our little flock! We have acquired three hens--Dekalb Amber year-old laying hens. Their hen house is painted barn red with a sweet door and shutters of "Woodlawn Promised Land" green. Tim cut a heart out of the new door that he made for them--a true sign that he still loves me, even if he might be feeling a little "henpecked"!

I think the girls' names are Francesca--who rules the roost with her floppy pink comb, Gwenevere--second in command, with dark plumage on her back, and Penelope--who seems a bit broody. They are a riot, pecking and scratching all about. They were raised organically in Wisconsin, but have not spent time on grass before. They seem to be enjoying it. We have yet to introduce them to Zeppo. I will post as to how that goes.

We even got our first egg from them yesterday. Aurora loves them and has been traumatizing them with her affections at every opportunity.

I got an automatic waterer for them outside, so they will never run out of water, and they have a double wall fountain drinker inside. I am currently giving them pelletized layer feed from Tractor Supply, but they do not seem as interested in it as in the small amount of organic feed I acquired from the folks we bought them from. The guy we purchased the chickens from is starting up an USDA certified organic eggery in south austin. It is a pretty cool setup. They have some acreage off of Slaughter Lane and rotate the chickens throughout the pasture. There is a little chicken trailer on wheels that moves with them for the girls to roost in at night. I'll include a shot of their arrangement. It remains to be seen whether or not I will raise these girls organically from here on out. There is some added expense. But I have learned that a lot of the commercial feed contains chicken bi-products. That's just gross.

pond after the rain

We have had some serious hail, rain, and thunderstorms in the last couple days. They have filled Zeppo's swimming hole quite nicely!

our little world

Just thought I'd throw up a few shots of our little universe here in Drippin'.

chickens and birthdays

We have had many birthdays of grandparents in our family this week. May they all have a blessed year! We were lucky enough to get to Houston to celebrate my mom's and had much fun exploring Houston newest civic development--their gorgeous downtown park with lake and ampitheater. We also visited a fantastic store called Wabash Antiques and Feed, which got me even more excited about acquiring CHICKENS!

The dude on Craigslist that I'll be getting my "Dekalb Amber" chickens from says that they've been raised organically and have already begun laying. My longsuffering husband even agreed to acquire a free old handmade playhouse off of craigslist for them to live in (attached is a shot of it on his truck!). That booger is heavy and needs a coat of paint, but it has the cutest little moon cut-out like an outhouse!

roses

The roses inside the gate are in bloom now and, oh, they are lovely. What a tremendous gift from some anonymous past gardener. Thank you!

I can't wait to unpack my book of roses and discover their names!

returned

Just returned from Florida and am so glad to be home. Many are the pleasures of the Ramada, but it does get old. The kids did love the pool, though. Brynne was a radiant bride, even though the event ended up occurring at her parent's house instead of the beach due to impending thunderstorms. I think she has found herself a wonderful, kind, thoughtful partner. Aurora opened and closed the dance floor at the reception. Didn't know whether or not she would take after her mother in that regard, but it appears as though she may.

misty morning in the garden

The broken pitchfork is what came of my first attempt to dig here in the Texas limestone "topsoil." We broke down and rototilled the little veggie patch. It is misty and overcast today.

tired

The days are so full, and there is always someone who wants to be in my arms. It is both wonderful and impossible.

playing dress-up

The girls received these wonderful dresses for Easter--and today is a blustery day, great for dress-up! Hope to get some better shots of both of them wearing their frocks (Laurel has a matching jumper!) at my friend's wedding in Florida this weekend!

easter!

Eggs and rabbits--fertility reigns!

delight

We are currently in Houston and spent a few days this weekend in Galveston. We had some really blustery days, but my eldest was not deterred and passed many an hour making drip castles on the beach. I can't wait to get back home to the hill country, though. The breezes on our hilltop are a delight. I love our sunken living room and sprawling dining table, which looks as though it was made for those saltillo tile floors.

We propped up the honeysuckle which had been pulled down for the painters before we left. I hope our slapdash job has kept it aloft these few days. Those coral red blossoms are awesome. Now trying to decide what to plant along the property line at the foot of the field in a little exposed area. Sounds like Arizona cypress will be a good bet. It likes limestone soils and will withstand drought, grows fast and has a bluish--green cast. I also love the look and sound of honey mesquite. Might have to find a spot for that on the property.

still packing

I have gotten to the point where it feels like I have been packing forever--the piles of boxes are taller than I am--and yet it still seems as though I have everything left to pack. So frustrating.

We have officially closed on the farmhouse but do not move in until Tuesday. I went out yesterday with the kids to make sure the place was still standing--and it, thankfully, was. And clean to boot. I nursed Laurel on a flat-top log next to our fire circle. It was breezy and cool and the grasses still have that winter gold to them, but you can see those perfect green shoots flying up from their bases. I also found within the confines of the fence the remainder of someone's herb garden. There is mint and sage and oregano and a couple things I can't identify. It will be a thrill to see what emerges as spring unfolds.

the things we leave behind

As our cabinets grow barer, my heart is also packing its boxes. Today we went to our neighbor's daughter's birthday party. From their back screened porch (so very lovely--they have painted the wooden floors crimson) you look down into our own backyard. So strange to see your own home through the eyes of your neighbors. It all looks so orderly and pastoral over here. My husband's wonderful white chapel of a shed, the shinto arbor smothered in lady banksia, the radio flyer tricyle perched between two whiskey barrels planted with snapdragons and lantana. And for the first time I started to really hurt over leaving this place, over pulling away from its sweet old dignity. This place is a mirror of decisions we made before our lives changed so deeply and miraculously, before . . . before we were who we now are. Our lives were so profoundly different then.

And tonite I sat on our back deck, the wind blowing so moody over us, with my baby girl sleeping over my shoulder, and watched the bare trees tangle with one another. The trees here are magical, tall and mysterious and full of life, towering over the bustle of this city. I will miss them.

I have loved (thus far) the process of packing. Handling all these pretty things. Delicate teacups and bags given to my by friends and shoes covered with the grime of our wedding night. It is not such a bad thing to take the time to touch all of these objects--little fossils of myself.