Lazy W Marie

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

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Waning Moon till Feb 22

   In this part of the world we had a Full Moon on Tuesday. That ended the most recent waxing phase of the moon and set us gently into February’s waning phase, which will last until the New Moon on February 21st. So for the next thirteen days (I am writing this a bit late) we are poised for a list of gardening chores that should really give us a good head start on the growing season! Interested? Cool beans.
   To review, the waning phase is when the moon is receding in fullness. This is when she is figuratively dormant or barren, lending energy to underground tasks, decay-related work, and bulbs and roots.
   In Oklahoma, we have a forecast of big winter weather this weekend, possibly a blizzard. So the confluence of a waning moon and the soon-coming need to hunker down clearly outlines my work for today and tomorrow. It’s funny how nature cooperates with herself, eh? This is what I need to be doing instead of reading and writing:
  • Clean water troughs and chicken pond. Refill all before freeze hits.
  • Clean chicken coop and replace shred, etc.
  • Scoop manure from fields for bagging and composting.*
  • Remove weeds and remaining dead tomato plants from flower beds.
  • Plant last minute daffodil bulbs.
  • Continue filling raised beds, lasagna-style.
  • Groom horses and make sure they’re warm.
  • Refill wild bird feeders.
  • If you’re brave enough, you might plant perennials & potatoes now, but it’s a bit too frosty here still.
   
   Once the waning work is done, this is one of the best times of the month to daydream and plan. Visualize your dream garden and put pen to paper. Order your seeds while they’re cheap and then turn back to the housework, because pretty soon it’s gonna be all about the garden again. Basically, I think for the waning moon you just focus on the words “dormant” and “underground.” Soil amendment, weed removal, animal nurturing, preventative maintenance… All those things which speak to you of closeness, quietness, and protectiveness, this is what to do until February 21st. Then, with the New Moon, we get to focus again on construction and creativity and above ground beauty! 
   
   Working in patterns and cycles like this is right up my alley. I feel so optimistic about the growing season this year! Are you a lunar experimenter too? I would so love to hear your ideas and advice. 
Trust Nature. 
Work Hard. 
Enjoy Your Days.
xoxoxo
*Incidentally, if anyone who is more or less local wants some excellent composting material, we have it! Organic, locally sourced, well rotted manure from chickens, horses, and buffalo ready to either spread or decompose at will. It’s especially great if you making your own soil.

Early February Senses Tour

   What a wide net of beauty and love we have around us right now. I haven’t participated in Monica’s 5 Senses Tour in a while, probably because the Small Stones project kept that thirst for observation pretty well quenched throughout January. But here we are a fourth of our way through the new month and my senses are overwhelmed again. Once more in need of lancing.
What I See: Patches of green clover and weeds interspersed with the dormant grasses. Small craters scratched into the earth by our chickens, revealing nearly black soil, crumbly and soft. Gorgeous new round bale of hay in the barn. New-to-us tablecloth we found at a garage sale this past weekend, a piece of round floral print cotton that I predict will become my favorite. At least for a while. Gray clouds covering the sun, dimming the early springtime, softening my gaze. New photos of my two beautiful daughters, faces that take my breath away. And possibility. I see possibility all around us.
What I Hear: Roosters crowing with serious joy every time they find new forage material. Geese screaming objections to every breeze. Horses exhaling and snuffling the afternoon into a soft, easy pace. Pacino preening himself before a full-belly nap. And I hear God whispering to me that He hasn’t let go, that He never will.
What I Smell: Fresh coffee in the kitchen. Vanilla candle next to me while I write. Tomato babies upstairs in the sunniest window. Buffalo manure in the front field, so strong today that is reminds me of the elephant house at the zoo. Skunk spray in the barn, which kind of smells good. And big, important changes.
What I Taste: Perfectly dark, fresh, hot, sweet, creamy coffee. And thankfully much less bitterness than I have tasted in months.
What I Feel: The grit of dirt under my fingernails from potting up tomato babies then playing with the cats. Thin cotton shirt on my arms. Crinkled paper pages and spiral spine of my planner. Romance in the air. And hope.
Feel Your World and Enjoy It.
xoxoxo
5 senses tour
   

Friday Afternoon Potential (Small Stone January 27th)

   It’s been a full day here of laundry, ironing, organizing, filling water troughs, feeding animals, and cleaning the chicken coop. I managed to write a little bit then stumble through a p90x video, which makes me happy. At 4:50 I am freshly showered. Waiting for Friday to truly arrive with my husband’s homecoming. The house is clean and quiet, my mind is mercifully calm, and the biggest questions in my heart are faced down for now. I do not feel one tiny bit guilty for an afternoon cup of coffee and a piece of toast slathered in Nutella. Well, maybe a tiny bit. But that feeling pales against the blank canvas of possibility that keeps stretching out in front of me everywhere I look.
   Happy weekend everyone! No, happy life. Happy life to you no matter what difficulty comes your way, no matter what pain you feel or what regret you harbor. Happy life to you in every sense of the word. Find that long view again, then live in the moment. Accept your blessings and use them to be a blessing to others. Savor your adventures and surprises. Enjoy your life in small, simple ways. Love slowly and deeply. Protect your peacefulness when it is threatened, and let it grow. Trust that Love conquers all.  xoxoxo

Thursday Potential (Small Stone January 12th)

   After what might have been the deepest, most solid sleep I have enjoyed in weeks, maybe months, I sit here on Thursday morning facing a long, solitary day that pulses with incredible possibility. It is thrilling.
   Snow covers the ground, not deep and fluffy, but crusted and bitterly cold, probably something closer to ice. Yet the sun is bright, loud in his brightness, defiant of the single digit temperatures. I feel grateful to not have to drive anywhere today, fortunate that my place in this world is a cozy one, a safe, happy, meaningful one. 
   Over the next eight or nine hours, what improvements can I make in our little corner of the world? What reaching out can be done? How much can I strengthen our foundations and adorn our dreams?
   Choosing how to funnel my abundant energy is often my biggest daily challenge, and today is no exception. but today it is a motivation, not a burden. Today the possibilities are potential.
   I cannot help but wonder how much of this feeling has to do with my hair being freshly washed and blown dry.
   

Still Morning (Small Stone January 10th)

   At 6:38 this morning we creep outside for another Hot Tub Summit. The moon still rests high on her nighttime throne, gloriously full, casting brilliant silver light all over the hills and valleys and fields. I cannot detect the slightest breeze, no movement anywhere. Even the geese are quiet. The farm is still asleep.
   Oak, blackjack, red bud, and pine trees stretch their perfect, inky silhouettes out against the sky while we soak in the scalding water and unwind ourselves from the night.
   
   When the time finally comes to abandon the quiet, to begin a new day, that smooth gray canopy above us has clicked over to a deep shade of blue. The moon is politely receding into the western sky. And the guineas have started their morning song.