Lazy W Marie

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

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All Day Tomatoes

   Tonight is pizza night at the farm. Homemade, handmade pizza, not $5 hot-n-ready. And today has been more moderately paced than every other day in recent weeks, so I indulged in some slow food luxuries while I could. First, I mixed up a couple of batches of pizza dough. Feeling the warm dough in my hands encouraged me to slow down even further. Then while the dough was resting and rising, I oven-roasted a pound and a half of grape tomatoes.
   The resulting yeasty, tangy-sweet, garlicky aromas wafting from the kitchen have pretty much intoxicated me. I am down for the count, good only for reading old books with yellowed, torn covers and having my toes nibbled by Pacino. As mentioned, it has been a while since the pace around here was so simple, so single-layered and calm. Today has been a much needed reprieve, and I am fortunate enough to have shared it with my ten-four-good-buddy M Half.
   You probably already know how to do this; it is neither rocket science nor Sudoku. But I snapped a couple of colorful before and after photos, so I want to share it with you guys.
Step One: Rinse your tomatoes and slice lengthwise. I used those small, sweet grape tomatoes today but have used lots of other varieties in the past. Feel free to improvise. Just slice, chop, or otherwise re-size ’em to suit your taste.
Step Two: Pour the raw tomatoes onto a baking sheet and add in some minced fresh garlic. I used my handy-dandy Pampered Chef garlic press for the first time today and L-I-K-E it. For this pound and a half of tomatoes I used about five cloves of garlic.
Step Three: Drizzle all of it with olive oil then sprinkle on some dried Italian herbs (fresh if you are awesome enough to have some) and sea salt.
Step Four: Place into a 200 degree oven for approximately the rest of the day. Specifically, a few hours. You will begin to smell the magic in your kitchen within five minutes. Your adjoining rooms will be perfumed in under half an hour. And by the time you can breathe in the tomato-garlic heaven from your front yard, it might be done.  
The tomatoes emerged from the oven three hours later, looking all shrivelly and exotic, 
promising us delicious toppings for our pizzas.

   That’s about it! A little tiny bit of knife-wielding, a slightly larger investment of time, and some appreciation for organic pleasures. That’s all you need. And if Oklahoma gets the rainy Saturday evening we’ve been promised, this might be a nice way to celebrate.  Enjoy!
xoxoxo

Five Senses Tour: Crafts on the Horizon

   At any given time I have three hundred and forty five thousand craft projects “in the works.”  The stages of completion range from “just saw this on Pinterest or in a boutique, must try asap” to “I just need to top stitch one more little piece, and it’ done!”  So it’s a little bit funny to be zeroing in on just five items on the crafty horizon.  Still, here they are.

   The general approach around here is to use fabrics and materials already on hand, that wonderful found stuff, recycling and re-purposing every single chance we get and resisting the urge to buy anything new except, perhaps, thread and finishing nails.

Item Number One:
distressed & stenciled piece of furniture

Pinned Image
Miss Mustard Seed does beautiful work!  This is hers, which I snagged off of Pinterest.
Item Number Two:
full bib apron with ruffles & pleats, made from vintage cotton sheeting
My version will be for sale when it’s done.
Unless I love it too much.
Which happens a lot.
Pinned Image
http://christytomlinson.typepad.com/christytomlinson/
Item Number Three:
wreath made from aged book pages
I’ll finish this one tonight while watching movies with Handsome.
Pinned Image
http://thriftydecorating-nikkiw.blogspot.com/2011/08/old-book-wreath.html
Item Number Four:
silly applique pillows using only scraps of course
Pinned Image
http://www.etsy.com/listing/80090478/owl-cushion-pillow-red-blue-green
Item Number Five:
scarf made from recycled tees
This one is intended for my sixteen year old daughter,
and I am using happy-memory shirts from her childhood.
Pinned Image
http://www.craftingagreenworld.com/
   So there we have it, five projects, each of which is underway and also has a recipient in mind.  Happy scavenging!

Truth Telling

   Not fortune telling, not spell-casting, not even name-it-and-claim-it spirituality, but truth telling.  We have a shortage of it.  From the everyday washing over of a minor indiscretion to the biggest lies, the most heinous deceptions, we try over and over again to trick each other into accepting what we hope will be a better reality, an easier or more advantageous way of seeing the world. 
   My almost grown children are hearing incredible, destructive lies that are temporarily isolating them from people who love them dearly.  And I have started a Truth Journal so that one day, when the time is right and I know no one will interfere, they can hear the truth about things and hopefully feel set free.  They both deserve that and so much more.
   What lies do you catch?  What lies do you tell?  What lies do you allow to slip past without making any effort to stop them?  I’m not suggesting that we spend our lives combating falsehood; we need to be good stewards of our time and energy and use wisdom to choose our battles.  But I wonder how different life would be if, starting immediately, we refuse to settle for untruths.
Pinned Image

I found this lovely print on Pinterest.
The original source appears to be 
   And I am really thinking of the important stuff here, the things that impact our hearts, although knowing for sure what truth lies behind certain advertising schemes or whether aspartame is R-E-A-L-L-Y that bad for me, yep, I’d like to know.
   Today I challenge you to join me in facing the worst lies in your life by standing on the knowledge that Truth can overcome them.  Love trumps, Love wins, and words matter.  Use them wisely and trust that even your thoughts can circle back to you.  So make them good and beautiful.  Make them truthful.
 xoxoxoxo
   

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
   

Breathing Deeply

   Eight days ago the lives of some of my most beloved people changed forever.  Our family was thrust into grief and shock, worse than any I have ever before witnessed firsthand.  All week long we have responded to each other the way I hope all families everywhere can manage to do.  I feel as profoundly grateful for my parents, my siblings, and my husband as I feel sad for the incredible loss being suffered.
   Having just now opened my laptop for the first time since the terrible news, the first thing I notice is that life goes on.  Whether we think we like it or not, the world is still turning.  Other people are still maintaining routines, relationships, and the pursuit of beauty in daily life.  Still oceans of happiness and possibility remain unexplored, and this is good.
   I’ll now be gradually stepping back into reading and writing, trying to revive my study of Proverbs 31 and also sharing some of the things we learned this week.  Prayers are still needed and appreciated for my sister, her children  our parents, everybody.

   Rather than leave you on a sad note, I want to assure you of the power of love and hope.  The potential for old hurts to be soothed, for flaring tempers to be cooled.  Love is not just soft and romantic or even sexy; it is truly powerful.  Love motivates; it emboldens; it focuses and multiplies our energy.  Love is miraculous, and it causes me to KNOW that all things are possible.

   Late last night we witnessed the marriage of Handsome’s nephew and his young bride, and I could feel in my lungs and my bones that Love is alive.  I breathed it in deeply, let it saturate my body, and savored the realization that what lies ahead of us is better than what lies behind us.

Best wishes, be as happy as you can, count your blessings.
xoxoxo