Lazy W Marie

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

5 Sense Tour, Potageries

   The past few months I have been preparing a little plot of earth near our south facing dining room door to become a Potagerie, a small kitchen garden for growing herbs, edible flowers, and small daily use fruits and veggies. A lot of planning and work will go into it before anything this beautiful happens at the Lazy W, but good things are underway. Here are five of my favorite inspiration photos to get the organic juices flowing.
The connection between dirt and counter top is so vital, 
and I love everything about this photo.
This pretty little corner is just part of one hundred acres of gardening
at a museum in Massachusetts.
Different hardiness zone, I know, but close enough to inspire and teach.
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This curvy, well stocked little garden 
brought to us by This Hopeless Romantic.
Perfect.
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This photo was originally on a site called “Bliss and Kiss” but I cannot find it now. 
I have always loved growing blue morning glory vines over a doorway. 
They impart such a grandness and coziness at the same time. 
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The variety of height and depth makes this garden really interesting, 
and using grapevine obelisks for climbing foods is just beautiful.
   I am linking up a day late with Monica on her Five Sense Tour, collecting all kinds of wonderful eye candy along the way. Have an inspired, imaginative day everyone!
xoxoxo
5 senses tour

Random Tuesday Evening Thoughts

   My mind is swimming with thoughts this evening, boiling even, in a very pleasant way. By contrast the Oklahoma skies are dark, damp, and heavy, so these kinetic thoughts are comforting. The silent headlines are so undulating and cryptic, though, that I can barely organize my sentences. I really can’t be sure whether any of this is even connected, but I feel like we’re on the precipice of something big in our little family, so stamping the moment might be a good idea.
  
   Peace in the midst of a storm is a funny thing to me. Although no circumstances have changed for us, in fact only more time has accumulated with difficulty unchanged, I feel inexplicably better and on a cellular level. Far more assured in my heart that not only are things going to be alright; things are exactly as they should be right now, including the pain and questions. These are a vital part of life, after all, and I should not hope to be exempt from the testing. None of our dreams have been abandoned. Of course I have questions and moments of fear, but that steady, glowing peace is real. I trust that God is in control and I know that He is nothing but Love and Mercy.

   The weather here begs a lot of attention, by the way. From meteorological records broken to prophecies  teased at and environmental issues debated, things will be blogged. Soon.

   I have boasted quite a bit about my husband on here but am now privately enjoying a renaissance of love for him and suppose I can share that too. Deep, resounding love. One of the surprises provided by ten years of marriage is the repeating opportunity to see him in a different light. I watch him face challenges and mature and refine himself as a man. I learn things about myself through his eyes. And I renew the most important convictions between us.

These are Handsome’s strong, capable hands comforting a baby guinea. 
Earlier that day these hands had dealt with crisis after crisis at work
and balanced the best interests of many people for whom he cares sincerely.
Later that night these hands were mine.

   Legacy is in the air right now, due in part to the seasonal shift and the winter calendar being heavily laden with family traditions. But I know it’s also a result of so much thinking about and praying for the girls. My sister and her children are still grieving unspeakable loss, too, and words to comfort them escape me. They will certainly struggle with legacy for many decades, but they will also receive Grace when they need it most.  
   My grandparents are with me a lot these days too, further underscoring the theme of legacy. Tonight my  cousin Emily and I shared a brief but powerful exchange about childhood memories of our shared grandmother. I was struck by the simple aspects of Grandma’s daily life that ended up being her legacy.

The top frame contains a pencil and marker drawing by my Grandma. 
She was a beautiful, olive skinned, eclectic woman 
who made the most dramatic vase arrangements from just wildflowers and weeds. 
She would probably laugh that so many of us in the family 
keep these doodles and treat them like relics, 
but to me this crispy, yellowed sheet of paper is a reminder 
to live simply and draw beauty from common things.

   Outside my kitchen window is a section of earth destined to be an herb garden! My very own potagerie, something purposefully different from the larger vegetable garden out back. I have been slowly conditioning the soil there and will soon be contouring the area with hardy Liriope. Then wild garlic, daffodils, boxwood, lavender hedges, rosemary, and poppies. I can hardly contain myself!!! Every kitchen does really need its own private garden, and I really looking forward to sharing the folklore, art, and science behind my plans.

   In a few weeks we will be participating in a chicken coop Christmas decorating contest, so I am collecting amazing ideas from all over the place and deciding which ones are worth the expense of time. We are talking about chickens and geese, after all, and they are messy. They are sweet but terribly challenged in the manners and classiness department.

   This is my favorite song lately. In fact anything this girl ever sings makes me warm and gooey. This live version starts off kinda iffy, so please be patient and give it a chance! Go brush your teeth or something and come back once it’s buffered or whatever.

Wishing you more order in your own thoughts but just as much peace and joy.
xoxoxo

Humble Pansies, Happy Thoughts

Autumn blooms, bright and clean, facing the sun 
calmly, quietly, with perfect optimism.
Your freshness and vivid colors inspire me.
Despite the cold air, beneath the wind and mist, 
you sit patiently, needing very little.
Thank you for your simplicity. 
Thank you for reminding me
 that beauty resides in every little humble space.

Mama's Losin' It

Dirt Manicure

   I woke up this morning with a list of necessary chores to do outside, a tailgate full of autumn blooms to sink into the earth, and ideal weather and schedule conditions for both.  So after zipping through a few inside jobs and enjoying some time on the phone with my little sister, I found my boots and headed outside for what I refer to as a Dirt Manicure.
   Dirt Manicures are really good for you.  They generally happen outdoors, under the sun, in the fresh air, with your back bent in satisfying labor.  Dirt Manicures don’t get your head all filled and sick with chemical fumes like at a nail salon; they are more likely to perfume your body with that sharp, sweet fragrance of tomato leaves or the grassiness of horse manure.  Dirt Manicures are evidence that you’ve done something constructive and maybe even creative.  The act of getting one helps you reconnect with nature.  And that is one of life’s best beauty treatments.
My Grandpa Stubbs taught me that if you find a Y-shaped branch in your tomato vine
that has sprouted a center stem, just pinch that center stem off with your thumbnail.  
This helps the tomato plant conserve energy and grow stronger branches and better fruits.
Check out this little green baby.  
His collar is HUGE, hopefully signalling a nice, big fruit.
He is in the very good company of dozens of bright yellow tomato flowers 
as well as dozens of other green ‘maters.  
The Second Chance Garden is still going strong!
   I kept feeling guilty while I “worked” outside, because it didn’t feel like work at all.  It was playtime, even if I was the only one on the playground.  And although I’ve been W-2 challenged for almost eleven years now, I still have strong bouts of guilt over staying home and living this luxurious lifestyle.  The least I can do is take a few blurry photos of it all.
   
This is a stone urn we keep at at our front door, 
pictured here with leftovers from the brutal summertime.
Think of this as a container garden bone yard.  
Admittedly a neglected spot on the farm.
The only things here that are still viable are daffodil bulbs, 
and they’re not due to bloom for many months.
Much ripping and composting was called for.
Same urn, about ten minutes and eight bucks later.  
I removed the dead dwarf evergreen and replaced it with a $5 something or other.
I added one small golden mum and three tiny white-with-purple pansies.
Following the tall/fat/trailing recipe for container gardens, 
I needed something to fall over the urn’s edge
but had not bought anything like that at Home Depot.
So I searched the east flower bed and found some vinca vine that had gone a little crazy.  Bingo.
Oh, and I found some feathers blowing around and stuck those in too.
Here we have goose, turkey, and macaw feathers, just for fun.
   One of my favorite things about an unhurried morning in the garden is the rediscovery of plants that have been quietly plodding along, unfurling themselves and growing slowly, gradually, blooming and bursting with life while I was busy elsewhere.
The cannas really like the warm soil and cool air we’ve been enjoying lately.
With just a little extra water now and then, they are generouos with color and texture.

And once the scarlet gossamer blooms fall to the ground,
we get to see these fuzzy, stained-red seed pods and their tissue paper casings.
I cannot decide which one I like better.

   Designing a garden on paper is fun, but reacting to a garden’s ongoing expression is where you can find  real pleasure.  Identifying vacant spots, experimenting with color combinations, rotating plants to find the prettiest “face,” just sifting that cold, silky dirt with your bare hands…I love the crunch of my spade when it slices into a patch of crabgrass.  I love the textures of sand and loam, mixed together like brackish water.  I love to shakeout my ponytail at the end of the day and see dirt and possibly ladybugs fly out.  
  
I am kind of hoping that mums have bug-repelling properties like marigolds do.
   My morning in the garden was an investment.  Not only do we have some color to enjoy again; I also spent that time calming my thoughts, soothing some anger over recent family events, and reminding myself that life is beautiful.  We all grow best when not rushed, just nourished and surrounded with beauty and health.  I hope you have time for a Dirt Manicure soon.
xoxoxo
   

Advice for Removing Sunflowers

   Allergies are raging right now at the farm.  Parrot dander, horse hair, hay dust from the barn, wildflowers, ragweed, you name it.  And Handsome is the chief sufferer. Since permanent or even seasonal relocation to the desert or a salty beach is not at present in our cards, we have some changes to make.  
   Yesterday I started by yanking out of the dry, cracked earth a trash bin full of ragweed to donate to the landfill and then an equally full pile of sunflowers for the chickens to eat.  I learned a few things while doing this yesterday.  So today I have some unsolicited advice for you, just in case this is a chore on your list anytime soon..
   I L-O-V-E unsolicited advice, don’t you?
   So you are welcome.

   A Few Tips for Removing Sunflower Groves:
   1.  Before tackling the stalks, cut back as many of the flowers stems as possible. This will reduce the ferocity of the bee swarms that are likely to attack your face while yanking at the tree trunk-thick middles.  
These tiny pumpkins are the fruit of volunteer vines 
that sprang up from last year’s carving party 
with my youngest daughter and her step brother.
xoxoxo
    I am enjoying one final summer bouquet with some of the cut flowers, mixed with a few stems of purple Rose of Sharon.  Pretty, eh?  But also deathly to allergy sufferers like Handsome.  One of the cruel jokes of a happy marriage.
   2.  Be brave agaisnt the swarming bees.  They will buzz your ears and hum in your face and try to intimidate you, but stay the course.  You are on a mission.   A mission of love.  And yes, it’s true that you are destroying the bees’ habitat, but humans rule the world, right?
    3.  Run a water hose at the base of the flowering grove while you work on flower cutting or hauling, or while you run screaming from the bees.  Pretty soon the roots will relax enough to be heaved free of the vise like grip of the earth.  
   While the water soaks is also a good time 
to text honey badger jokes to people.
   4.  When the time finally comes for pulling loose the remaining naked stalks, use your legs.  Bend your knees and pull with your legs, not your back.  Removing sunflowers is not the same thing as cutting roses or zinnias, folks.  It is not even the same thing as pulling crabgrass.  It is a tug of war with Mother Nature herself.

Exactly one sunflower bud remains in the south garden.  
So tightly wrapped up in itself, so hopeful as its baby face follows the sun,
so doomed for loneliness and certain death.
Apparently this sunflower is out of Nair.  
Better I just put her out of her Velcro misery.

   Keep in mind that sunflowers are among the few plants that have survived the 2011 Oklahoma drought and heat wave, so Mother Nature is going to be understandably protective over this sturdy  treasure.  Pull smart and pull hard.  If you fall backwards when the battle is finally won, don’t worry.  Just hope you don’t land on a bee.  Then spring up like the ninja that you are and get back to work.

   5.  Wear gloves.  Not the pretty little cotton gloves they sell to women at the dollar store; REAL GLOVES  Work gloves   Boy gloves.  Seriously, I am soooo done buying women’s “gardening” gloves for working outside, no matter how much I like the red calico print or lime green stretchy wrist band and no matter how cheap they are.  $8 for one pair of men’s thick, suede-like gloves that LASTS is a lot cheaper than forty pairs of women’s cotton gloves from the $1 bin, gloves that are quickly reduced to thin, pathetic shreds AND that attract all manner of stickers and thorns in the mean time.  Disposable.  I don’t know about you, but my gardening money is not disposable.

Sorry, Babe.  This glove, along with so many T-shirts, is now mine.
   Back to the original story.
   6.  Do not make eye contact with the monarch butterflies as you remove the sunflowers.  I cried real tears for a moment yesterday as a beautiful winged creature hovered in front of me.  Her little insect chin quivered.  She seemed to be asking me, “But what will my children eat tonight?”  If you don’t look at them, they’re not really there, right?  Gulp.  Stay focused and cold hearted.

Here we have “Speckle” the hen.  I know, it’s a cryptic name.
On day one of the grove removal, she and her feathery cohorts 
were inexplicably terrified of the sunflower carnage.
Day two found her pecking, tromping, and clucking her way through the dried up stuff.
I can only hope that she found lots of fresh, juicy bugs to eat.
Wait, I can only hope that the butterflies and bees and squash bugs and caterpillars escaped.
Wait, who are we rooting for again?

   7.  Should you indeed find yourself trapped by a confused monarch butterfly or bumblebee, do your best to offer assurances that the sunflowers are just being relocated, not removed entirely.  Promise them that their pollen and nourishment is being walked around the corner to the chicken yard, just a short flight away.  Do not tell them how hungry the chickens and geese are and that now they, the juiciest poultry food source, will be much closer to ground level while collecting pollen.  It could be the insects’ last meal, after all, so why ruin it?  Lie.  Lie like broccoli.
   
   So there you have it.  Seven steps to successful sunflower removal.  Glad I could help.