Thursday, June 09, 2016

June Yarn Along!

Obviously I have a problem...I can't just read one thing! From left to right; Pride and Prejudice, book club (while it is a favorite it is sometimes not distracting enough right now). Soul Gardening, poetry, stories, and spirituality from Catholic mamas (I am no longer in the trenches of early motherhood so it's mostly read with a knowing nod). Taproot Magazine, my early morning tea and hammock read these days (I read through these slowly as the stories and articles seem to fit in my always thinking brain). Mormon Feminism Essential Writings, this can swing wildly from inspiring and rising to action to frustrating, discouraging, and maddening (This may take a while to get through as I have to put it down for a week at a time sometimes). How to be a Wildflower, this is light and happy and beautiful, everything I need in life right now.

I have done a little knitting here and there, mostly while listening to podcasts but also at piano lessons. But since it is gardening and river/lake season there is just not a lot of knitting time! I am listening to bits of Feminist Mormon Housewives, Year of Polygamy (which as you can guess also needs breaks) and yesterday I started the three part on Rob Cast titled God (so far it is great), and I HIGHLY recommend his interview with Friar Richard Rohr)!  The pattern is Moho by Chris Salas in Madelinetosh fingerling in the color way Jamie's Kilt.
And a parting shot of our beach day yesterday!

Monday, June 06, 2016

A Couple Moments on this Monday...

I thought I'd share just a couple things from this past week that were lovely, because there were a few pretty hard parts of it...





Sometimes kitty cuddles can cure a lot of ills, sun and water I am SURE are cures to ANY ill you can imagine! And when you throw in siblings laughing and enjoying each other it's just the best. Weather warm enough for favorite vintage shoes and summer dresses is ALWAYS a highlight to my year. Love and inclusiveness is always in style and always needed. 
And my garden this morning! We almost had a tragedy when one of the walls of water collapsed and almost smashed on of my Orange Russian tomatoes! But thankfully I was in the yard and heard the rush of water! The beans are all starting to really take off now, I only have a couple more seedlings to get in the ground. Also that big mullein plant came back this year so I can dry some mullein leaf for tea and use the flowers for mullein oil for earaches (which we have also been dealing with this week) and maybe I'll get crazy and make some salve too! Pretty soon I will have to get very creative to get a picture of the whole garden!
I hope your Monday is gentle! 

Thursday, June 02, 2016

Mother's Day

I know we are long past Mother's Day, but I wanted to share our adventure and I am sure you can imagine that it was a hard day and took some time before I was ready to share.
 I just wanted to get out of dodge! I did not want to talk to anyone or do any of the regular things we have done in the past. Thankfully I have this amazing, wonderful husband who understood and was completely supportive! So we got this crazy harebrained idea and took a day trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park! Yes it s a bit far for a day trip, but we enjoy car trips, we had time to kill, we had never been there, and we let the kids bring their kindles...
(And no Dan is not THAT tall! He is on the paved road and we are a step down in the dirt. But Riley is indeed THAT tall, he passed me up a month or so ago!)

The bubbling mud of death! You should look up Bumpass Hell...we did not get to hike there since it was still VERY snow packed up there but this was a small part of the geothermal mud pits they have there.

 My Mother's Day pictures with my kids!
 It was breathtaking!






It was a beautiful bright day to spend outdoors with my family, and any day for me spent in a volcano is always A+! I love volcanos and geothermal activity, I guess that means I live in the perfect spot! This part of the country is completely dotted with volcanos, both extinct and dormant and there are so many hot springs around here you need a book!
It was an amazingly beautiful drive, and the very small part of the park we were able to see (most roads and trails are still closed because of the hight of the snow) were well worth it! We will be back, hopefully next time for some camping!
On the way home we did stop by a Jack-in-the-Box and all had an order of my mom's favorite curly fries!