Lazy W Marie

Carpeing all the diems in semi-rural Oklahoma...xoxo

a few of my favorite average moments at the farm

Sometimes a few average things happen here at the farm that take my breath away and leave me buzzing with pleasure. If you have a moment to join me, I would love to read something from your everyday life that thrills you.

After weeks of raking thin flakes of hay from large, tightly wound bales, the moment always comes when the dense core is exposed and everything relaxes. That feeling of my strong metal rake toothing itself into the final thick layer of reluctant dry grass is so exciting. I can feel the breakthrough about to happen. Then I feel the whoosh, the great exhale and collapse of all that necessary tension. I relish the sight of hay falling in heaps and layers to the ground. The core is solid and heavy but manageable, and it tips over with a little effort. A giant cylinder of food for the horses. For a few weeks after this, the hay comes in thicker, friendlier sheets. And I always crave to make cinnamon rolls for someone.

Every sunset and every daybreak is special, and I am always thankful to catch either. I especially love dramatic skies, purple clouds with hot pink underbellies, backlit metallic banks of clouds, streaky sunrays extending further than necessary and exactly as far as they want. I love it when the western sky reflects across the farm onto the bowl of the eastern sky, and vice versa. Our house sits in a way that displays the roundness of the heavens. And I love it when the various colored lights clings to trees and buildings and, at very special moments, animals. Light blessings. Kisses everywhere.

How sensual to walk around the gardens and smell herbs recently disturbed. Someone has been scraping through mint and oregano and rosemary. Someone has made a snack of Thai basil. Lemon balm, tomato vines, parsley. All of it available to everyone. Cats or chickens emerge, peaceful. I would grow a garden just for these silent, fragrant moments.

Every morning after breakfast chores, Klaus and I walk the front paths to pray and lay groundwork for the day ahead. Lately the prairie grasses have ripened into warm colors and many have grown their feathery tassels and plumes. I scout for blood grass and sumac, and he scouts for deer. I love the ever tightening corners where pine trees flank the walkway and threaten to grow into canopies above us. I love the profusion of yellow wildflowers. I love the flattened areas in the meadow where deer have been sleeping. I especially love the joy on Klaus’ face when he meets his “babies” and they leap and sprint away from him with unbelievable grace.

When the weather is just right, hanging laundry outside is a great pleasure. I love seeing bedsheets and towels billowing on clean breezes while working in the garden. I love catching the horses nap beneath the fabric. I love the heavy scent of ozone that comes with us back to the house with that basket full of dry, crisp fabric.

Sometimes I visit the chicken coop and discover eggs so recently laid they are still hot to the touch. Sometimes I check squash and pumpkin vines and discover that yesterday’s fruits have doubled in size. Sometimes the morning glories are still blooming at lunchtime, and woody sunflower stalks that had broken from their own glorious weight are suddenly growing new shoots. These quiet details, all proof of Life that wants more and more of its own energy. Amazing and encouraging.

Happy Thursday, friends.
May you notice and swallow whole
every pleasure available to you.
XOXOXO

rooted & grounded

And just like that, we have leaped across the verdant threshold between seasons. My heart is filled all over again with excitement for the coming gardens and with hope for so many yet-unanswered prayers. I know I say that a lot, about hope, but please know that we also celebrate the brick-and-mortar resolutions, the answers, the rewards of waiting and hoping, all the time. Our world lately has been riddled with both good news (really good news), encouragement to expect more of it, and some healthy perspective about how much worse life often is for others. Gratitude is not strong enough a word to express how I feel about it all. I am in awe of what God has been doing for us and the people near us.

Jessica planting some joyful color in her apartment courtyard garden…xoxoxo

Seeds are germinating left and right. The Peeps have officially outgrown their indoor trough home and have moved to the flight pen outside. Broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage starts are suddenly voluptuous; their neighboring snow peas are tendriling upwards on arched cattle panels; and the Mouse Garden is a thick, highly textured bed of kale. Kale!! The Yukon Gold potato box has sprouted with food, and what so far looks like just green confetti will very soon be full ruffles of spinach, kale, arugula, and fancy lettuces. Last year’s chicks, now fully mature hens, are laying eggs regularly and eating all the wild clover I can pull from our new watermelon patch. The horses are shedding as thickly as the cottonwood is about to be blooming, and speaking of blooms, all four of our fruit trees seem to have kept their precious springtime flowers and are all set up for a heavy season of apples, peaches, and plums.

The house stays warm enough most days, now, even with the heater off and the windows open, to keep a sourdough starter going, and I bake fresh bread as often as we crave it. We stay busy outdoors so much longer these days, with the gradually later sunsets and mild weather, just moving easily and with great pleasure from one task to the next. Klaus keeps us company the whole time, and it is wonderful to find him exhausted instead of restless at the end of a day well spent. (My husband says he feels the same way about being able to exhaust me, ha! Hibernation is not for everyone.)

Our middle field especially is greening up, and just a moderate effort to scoop up and relocate manure is making a big difference. The compost bins have stayed so full that I recently started a second, much larger area for experimenting with a faster decomposition method. But now I think it’s too far away from a water source. Oh well, the honeybees love it!

My little herb garden is waking up from winter, and it is so fun to try and visualize what will return, where the truly blank spots are, how to reshape and replenish the small area. It’s a luscious intimacy, to know a garden for a length of time, to become familiar with its dimensions and habits and needs and wants. To know how it behaves in each season, what is asks of the gardener, what it offers in return. In the spaces between perennials, I am scattering seeds like cinnamon basil, dill, zinnias, and more. By Easter Sunday everything should be erupting there. Already, in this garden and in the areas flanking the vegetable gate, day-lilies and vinca have returned. I am so excited about the gomphrena and Mexican petunia. For now my eyes feast on the Jane magnolia petals falling all over the front sidewalk.

We have been craving to host an outdoor yoga night and will do this soon. The weather is just so close to being reliable, and we have only a short list of deck repairs to make first. Local and interested in moonlit yoga and meditation? Stay tuned!

The first three months of this gorgeous new year have been filled with incredible Love, satisfying work, plenty of restoration and deep breathing, and just good, plain, happy daily pleasures. Life at the W is not without stress and certainly out hearts have aches like everyone’s; but we have laid hold of some powerful antidotes and some very agreeable reminders for each other about what matters most, about how to shrug off distractions and quickly refuse energy siphons, and how to really sink in and enjoy the moments. Magnify pleasures. Minimize irritations. When either of us buckles from some outside pressure, I think we are pretty good at showing each other grace and welcoming each other back to paradise. Because paradise, really, is how it so often feels. For these things and much more, I am so deeply grateful.

One last update, I just finished The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle. My sister Angela had recommended it, and I found it to be not just thought provoking but deeply confirming of so much I have already been considering. Lots to discuss if you have read this!

Happy Sunday, friends, and happy springtime!

Rooted and Grounded in Love
XOXOXO

a run down of our festive month so far

In the week or so since I last wrote to you, we have been supremely busy with all manner of Christmas festivities. Actually, since long before that, this has been the case. Ever since Halloween, the Lazy W and our friends and family have been ALL IN with the winter holidays, and we love it! I just have not slowed down often enough to type out the stories. Today I’ll try and catch us up with headlines and snapshots.

 

A family wedding! My gosh. Did you even know that Dante, my first ever nephew, has married his California sweetheart? It was a magical, spontaneous family event in Bricktown followed by some delicious Greek food and a great big cake from Sam’s. Just mountains of love and laughter. Our hearts all bursted open with Love.

And this past week he shipped out to basic training for the Air Force. Words fail me, really. It has been quite an evolution in our family. (Maybe I can get my sister, his mom, to wrote for you about this.)

Sunday, December 9th: After chores and a quick run, my husband treated us to a fancy lunch date at Penn Square Mall, then we did come clearance shopping at Old Navy. (Gotta have balance, right?) We also went to the OKC Zoo with Mickey and Kellie, then the four of us also walked through the Yukon Christmas lights display together. So fun!

Monday, December 10th: That evening we went to OKC to attend our niece Chloe’s winter strings orchestra concert. Absolutely beautiful, nostalgic (I love how schools smell), and Christmassy! She is a talented violinist and a beautiful, witty young lady. We love her so much. Afterwards, Mom treated everyone to ice cream at Braum’s, yum!

Thursday, December 13th: Jess surprised me with a quick visit and brought along a teensy-tiny puppy she was fostering! His name is Jax, and watching her with him melted my heart. Little Jax has yet to find a permanent home, but the jury is out on whether Jess will make this commitment. 

That afternoon I also had the chance to help out at a second grade classroom party, which was seriously so fun. My husband’s employees have kind of adopted a few classrooms at an underprivileged grade school near the Capitol, and once in a while I get to join the fun. Sugar, laughter, more sugar, Home Alone on the classroom television, and lots of hugs for the win! The kids were enjoying “Pajama Day” when we visited, and I kind of wished I had worn my pink Supergirl onesie.

Friday, December 14th:  Handsome took the day off from the office, so we slept late then soaked up an extra long Hot Tub Summit. Much needed. After that, I made him some breakfast and went for a run. Eventually we got dressed and did some window shopping in OKC (but made zero purchases, ha) and had lots of fun people watching. That evening Mickey and Kellie came to the farm for a cozy meal of appetizers and some deep spiritual talking. Christmas feels different for all of us this year, and it merits some separate writing.

By the way, when Kellie and I were texting each other a meal coordination plan, we had settled on “easy, cozy appetizers.” I made naked chicken tenders for protein and some cheddar sausage balls per my husband’s request. I had carrots with hummus, zuchinni, apples, and a green salad ready in case we were extra hungry. This is what my elegant friend brought:

Kellie claims to have shopped at Trader Joe’s while hungry, ha! But truly, she always feeds us gorgeous, elegant food like this. I wasn’t mad. I never am. And my plain old carrots, hummus, and apples stayed in the fridge. Ha!

Saturday, December 15th: What a day! Handsome and I romanced the daybreak, then I showered and shopped for last minute groceries. Around lunchtime, Jess and her friend Mercedes drove to the farm for some Christmas baking. We made sugar cookies, gingerbread men and mooses (meese?), chocolate nut clusters, and saltine toffee. These girls are incredibly artistic and so much fun. We had a blast!! The afternoon was a whirlwind of sugar and silliness, and I will hold the memories in my heart forever. 

I asked them to smile for a photo and they both grabbed a bottle of buttercream and did this.

Mercedes made two excellent frosting varieties in several gorgeous colors. Wonderful!!

Sunday, December 16th:  The early morning was spent doing chores, packing up more sweets from Saturday’s efforts, and grabbing a gym workout. (I’m enjoying some flexibility with exercise lately, not limiting myself to only running.) Midday, we got dressed up as Batman and Supergirl and took a big, red velvet bag full of toys and candy to the Fairgrounds. The Jedi club participates in a special event hosted by the District Attorney’s office, and it has become one of our favorite events. It is all to benefit a few hundred at-risk children in the area. Heart breaking and heart warming, all at once. 

We touched base with everyone at the farm, giving extra hay and cuddles, then drove back to the city for a going away party for our nephew Dante. This was the night we all gave him our farewell love before he left for boot camp on Tuesday. We all gathered at Mom and Dad’s house to play games and make one more big, fat, happy pile of memories. We all love Dante so much and are so proud of the young man he is becoming.

Sunday night was fun and a great preview to Christmas fun next week too. Genny is coming to town! 

In the cozy spaces between all of this fun, we have been driving through Choctaw and Harrah neighborhood looking at Christmas lights, watching our favorite December movies, playing fetch with the world’s most insatiable German Shepherd, and trying to balance party food with salads, broccoli, and chicken breasts, ha! It is working, more or less. Maybe. Yikes.

 

This year we have indulged in some community outreach, in new and more interesting ways. And my mornings are more often than not spent reading a couple of devotionals as well as the Bob Goff book, Everybody Always. We also gather somewhat regularly with Mickey and Kellie to pray and discuss some spiritual matters. The four of us trade prayer requests and stories about how life is going, and we make an effort evolve toward what we think God is asking of us. It has been quite an experience. Again, lots more to tell there. 

Friends, this blog post is weird, I know. I have been trying to patchwork it together for days, ha! I just needed to drop a pin on life right here, so I can move forward with a few more specific stories. I have things to tell you and things I want to always remember. So much incredible beauty and synchronicity is feeding us, keeping us afloat, I can hardly believe it.

Have you seen the new Mowgli yet?

“With the tiger and hunter now gone,
the future shimmered from darkness.”
XOXOXOXO

 

happy hippie holidays at the farm & sending our good vibes to YOU

Hey friends, and a very happy and healthy Thanksgiving Weekend to you! I hope this finds you feeling deeply peaceful, reasonably hungry, wildly loved, and a little excited. You know… all the exact opposite feelings of holiday stress. Because these times are meant for JOY, even when life is hard. It’s okay to let stuff go and lean into the celebration.

Today I want to tell you about a special event we hosted at the farm last week, and how I feel like it is already helping me roll gently into the winter festivities. I hope some of the vibes rub off on you, too.  

Friday evening, Handsome and I, together with my magical friend Sheila, opened the farm to a couple dozen loved ones for an event affectionately dubbed, “Happy Hippie Holidays.” It was the brain child of ours from over a year ago!

Sheila and I first bonded over a mutual love for both running and holistic wellness, and often our conversations meander over to nutrition and “healthy” recipe alternatives. Well, sometime last autumn we had the idea to host a Christmas cookie exchange party but ask folks to bring more nutritious treats instead of the usual sugar bombs. (No offense, sugar bombs! You have your place in the world.)

We couldn’t do it last year, but this year was perfect. We decided to schedule it ahead of Thanksgiving to inspire folks to reconsider their well being in the midst of what is traditionally a needlessly stressful, overeating, under-nourishing, tension-filled season.

It was the simplest party ever. All we did was invite people to the farm for a simple vegetarian meal and a pot luck of healthy treats, plus outdoor yoga and tai-chi. Sheila volunteered to lead the yoga flow, and my friend Raylene, who is a certified tai-chi instructor, led that. Both were sublime.

Every single day since the event, someone has called or texted me to say how good the yoga felt and how fascinating and inspiring the tai-chi was. Raylene taught us several meditation-type thought framing exercises that I know will help us dissolve those building holiday tensions. (Draw energy from your belly, reorient it, feel the pull of a golden thread up your spine… All so good.)

And I have to say how thankful we are that the weather was mild that day. Perfect temperatures, trace breeze, absolutely gorgeous sunset. With the bonfire blazing we were perfectly comfortable, and by nightfall the sky was inky black to show off the stars. 

We had brainstormed several more wellness activities and parting gifts, which didn’t quite come to fruition, but that’s fine. What we enjoyed Friday evening was perfect. Everyone left relaxed and happy and smiling, inspired I think. The other brilliant ideas will keep. (My husband is totally on board for hosting regular, maybe even monthly, wellness retreats here! Stay tuned!) 

That above (blurry) photo is of a dark chocolate bark made with a variety of nuts and seeds plus honey. It was a sticky, crunchy, sweet and salty piece of luxury, and I felt pretty good indulging in a few nibbles. Yum. Other treats people brought to share were:

  • goat cheese truffles with cranberries, pecans, and parsley
  • shrimp ceviche 
  • pumpkin bread
  • popcorn dusted with chili powder and cinnamon
  • banana oat muffins (flour-less and sugar free, still sweet)
  • walnuts and pecan halves with pomegranate seeds (Thanks Mom!)
  • vegetable curry with roasted chick peas
  • and YOGI TEA!! 

Sheila and I collaborated on the unusual ingredients to make the Yogi Tea happen. It’s from Adrienne’s website, and it was a huge crowd-pleaser. Delicious! Soothing and energizing all at once. Just like yoga.

Overall the night was simple, nourishing, and peaceful. Our small crowd was a nice mix of both friends and family of all ages. My parents brought our youngest niece Kenzie (she is a dance student and was enthusiastic about yoga!). Our youngest daughter came and mingled so naturally with all of our friends (such a pure joy for my heart), plus she participated in deck yoga, which I later learned was her first time ever! How beautiful that my friend Sheila led Jessica’s first yoga flow, and my other friend Kellie was next to her giving pointers and encouragement. 

I was also really happy that so many husbands joined the fun, haha! Since we had billed it as a vegetarian dinner and “please bring your favorite healthy treats,” haha, I got some teasing about what the heck would everyone else eat! Guess what good-looking white-collar hobby farmer grilled a tray of steaks and provided roasted potatoes and broccoli to the guys? It was so perfect. AND several of the men chose to do yoga with us!!

Wellness for all, according to his or her own tastes, ok? Ok. Yes.

I feel like it was a good, gentle, quiet way to step into the winter holiday season. I like having not only “healthy” food ideas in my brain but also some de-stressing techniques in my pocket. Breathing, stretching, visualizing techniques and the reminder to be grateful daily, constantly.

I intend to remember all winter long the sparkling deck lights and stars hanging heavy above us, the feeling of peacefulness and ease, my belly full of warm vegetable curry, and so much meaningful, face to face conversation with good people. It all opened my heart and slowed my pulse. When the holidays try to speed me up too much, when things are suddenly more complicated than they need to be, I will do some yoga outside and try a few tai-chi moves. I’ll eat softer, cozier, more nutritious food and hydrate really well. And I will trade electronics in favor of three-dimensional fun with humans. And I’ll remember that it’s okay to say no and edit details and keep things simple. It might even be better that way.

Happiest possible Thanksgiving to you, friends! I have something else I want to talk to you about, but that will keep too. I hope you thoroughly and mindfully enjoy everything you choose this weekend. Love your people. Give thanks aggressively and let your hearts crack wide open.

Find What Feels Good.
~Adrienne Mishler
XOXOXOXO

 

 

 

friday 5 at the farm: surprises this week

Whew, happy Friday!! What a great week this has been!

Since last I wrote, between and among all of our beautiful daily routines, several delicious little things have happened. Taking note of some of them feels really good. (When the exact opposite things might happen, the negative versions, we would complain, right? So let’s celebrate the small victories and pleasures.)

001 My first November fartlek run felt easy: 8 miles total at 9:31 average (1 up/1 down, 6 in the middle just casual intervals) Ahhhh you guys it felt really easy and I had so much fun. Had that day been less hectic I would gladly have started earlier and tried several more intervals. Anyway, it was kinda messy but overall a decent pace, and it didn’t tax me at all. The day before I had run 10 easy, so I was happy to be zero tired. Progress. Another type of progress, also kind of a surprise: I had to skip running two days in a row this week (Wednesday and Thursday) just due to life obligations, not a lack of motivation, and I was conspicuously un-bothered by it. At least, less bothered than I would have been not long ago, ha. Learning to keep the long view and keep running in balance with life is a sign of emotional progress. (And you can bet that getting out the door this morning to grab ten solitary miles was like pay-day, ha! Super refreshing.)

On Sunday we were surprised by a cluster of hot air balloons above OKC, so beautiful!

002 An unplanned visit from Jess! On Tuesday afternoon our youngest texted asking if she and her (very sweet) friend Mercedes could come to the farm for a visit. They arrived just as Handsome had pulled the truck and trailer in with a load of winter hay, and both young women jumped right up to help. They kicked and shoved with their strong legs four mammoth round bales onto the ground, all the while keeping Meh and the horses held off. Then we played with Klaus (of course) and caught up with each other. These girls are so smart and such fun conversationalists. We all four ate a dinner of baked chicken, roasted butternut squash soup (yes please let’s add a drizzle of coconut milk!), simple green salad, and buttery French bread, toasted. Jess and Mercedes stayed after dinner to play a board game, and we all had a blast. Such a happy surprise for us.

003 Lunch with Handsome at Lido in the Asian District, OKC. We used to eat here pretty frequently years ago but hadn’t been in so long. On Wednesday we found ourselves in town at the same time and he had just enough of a window to eat, so we ducked in and it was great. I had a bowl of vermicelli rice noodles with chicken. It was on top of a big pile of shredded lettuce and had carrots, mint, and crushed peanuts. Delicious. I love when unfamiliar restaurant food is flavorful and filling without a ton of syrupy sauce. And I love surprise lunch dates with my guy.

Also, three cheers for piping hot jasmine tea! So good.

004 Water tank repaired two whole days early!! That is a very happy surprise when you are excited to get caught up on laundry, ha! The repairman was scheduled for tomorrow (Saturday), but earlier this week he advanced our appointment to get ahead of a possible snow this weekend. He spent most of Thursday replacing our ancient well pump and the house water tank, and throughout the day he taught me a lot about how our rural water system works. It was pretty interesting. Klaus assessed the situation as training for when he finally gets to attack an intruder. He used his big boy voice. A lot.

005 Our first true cold snap surprised me. We have already had some cool nights and chilly, breezy afternoons the past month or so, but yesterday and overnight into Friday morning we felt the first blast of truly cold air. That autumn air that is so cold is tastes sweet and almost smells like something else, and certainly, when you catch a whiff of wood smoke from someone’s chimney, that perfume is stronger in the cold. Our kaleidoscope-colored oak, pecan, and maple leaves are abandoning their branches and drying to a crisp on their way to the ground. Already I am raking or sweeping up great oceans of them twice a day. But there is beauty even in the trees’ increasing bareness, and the cold means more soups and thicker socks and that deep sense of rhythm that the winter holidays provide. I’m ready. Tonight our heaters are on and my flower pots are indoors. 

Related: I saw the above tee shirt at Old Navy and it is my motto for a few days. Starting next weekend, our calendar is packed all the way through to the New Year, so this weekend I intend to crate and hold some space for breathing and stretching and being cozy. I want (NEED) to gear up for the season in some quiet ways. Soak up some details. There is some winter nesting to enjoy.

After I run. : )

Any surprises in your world this week? Are you fully invested in the season change now?

Thanks for checking in!! 

“The moments of happiness we enjoy
take us by surprise.
It is not that we seize them
but that they seize us.”
~Ashley Montagu
XOXOXOXO