Since its earliest hours, today has felt serious and more quiet than normal. I am wonderfully free from external pressure and hurry, unlike my husband who is at the salt mines again. I feel like we’re on the brink of something special, but something quiet maybe, and I don’t want to miss it. The easiest observation to make is that the animals are cuddling each other a bit more, wrapping up in closeness and affection against the chilly air that swept in overnight. Also, the gardens are turning inward, funneling all of their energy streams toward cold, dry roots and springtime fantasies. Today is a good day to take inventory, to reflect, and to nourish from the inside out.
What I See: Indoor plants newly fertilized and outdoor garden plots gone dormant, sitting expectantly like blank canvases or empty lined pages. Grassy, manure-covered rectangles teasing me for new designs this year and promising bigger, lusher harvests if I get around to building those raised beds.
“The violets the mountains have broken the rocks.” ~Tennessee Williams
What I’m Reading: Three books this week, though the first one more than the others because it’s the subject of our Book Club dinner, which is this Saturday!
Before I Go to Sleep by S. J. Watson. This is a page turner! Proper book review coming soon.
Game Change, a behind-the-scenes account of the 2008 Presidential elections. Reads like a fiction, thoroughly enjoyable.
True Memoirs of Little K by Adrienne Sharp I’ve mentioned this one before, too long ago, and it is still unfinished because I didn’t read enough during the busy holidays. Review of this luscious book forthcoming too.
What I Hear: Very little apart from the gentle, sleepy murmurings of the animals. The guineas are free range now, all but four, and their songs pepper the farm from sun to sun.
What I Feel, What I’m Touching: Lots of manure. My goal is to have the farm spotless by the end of the month or earlier and to have the gardens all spread with the rich, crumbly stuff well ahead of the spring rains.
This is a pile of chicken litter removed from our coop.
See all the cool white shreddy stuff?
May I suggest if you have access to shredded paper,
whether you use it as animal bedding or not,
consider using it in your compost heap.
It retains moisture beautifully, lightens up our Oklahoma clay,
and keeps one more thing out of the landfills.
What I Smell: Cinnamon Scentsy, laundry soap, and my husband’s pillow while I write.
What I Taste: Orange juice, heavily buttered English muffin, and fried eggs.
I can’t be sure exactly what’s on the horizon, friends, but I feel goodness all around us. I feel a surge of hope, an oceanic depth of love, and greater calm about our storms than I have felt in years. Happy Tuesday. Let me know if you see whatever it is I’m waiting on.
Feel Every Detail Today
xoxoxo
Again, beautiful post! Also? I’m loving the pics you’re adding on your sidebar. 🙂
This was a kick in the pants to read and look at. Thank you for sharing with us. I may use the button and do this myself in the near future!
Great post! I may try this too some day 🙂
So beautiful and peaceful, both in words and photos. I want to come dig in your manure with you.
I need to do this… what a cool way to connect with what’s going on during your day! Looking into your life on the farm makes me dread my commute through the city to my office this morning. BTW, tag! You’re it! http://www.bittybird.net/2012/01/i-was-tagged-meme.html