Lazy W Marie

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

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I Like to Eat my Turkey from a Big Brown Shoe

   For days now, strong ideas and long strings of words have been swirling delightfully through my mind and body. I have slept soundly every night and woken up refreshed every morning, already surrounded at dawn by the warm winds and bright colors of philosophy and possibility. In every corner of my house I have been ferreting away notebooks and slips of paper scribbled up with eurekas and scriptures that have never felt so real before, with observations about the universe at large, questions posed about conflicting ideas, recipes that feel important to me and so surely I must share them, and overly edited photos that tell long, interesting stories (at least to us).

I found this on Pinterest. You. Are. Welcome.

   But I haven’t taken the time to write this week because things have really been hopping around the farm, precluding me from focusing on any one idea and polishing it into something presentable. 
   We have had a large predator here (probably a bobcat or cougar but almost definitely not Sasquatch) and sadly have lost our Tom turkey, a pair of guineas, and at least one rooster. This means that now all the birds, cranky geese included, have been penned up 24/7 for their safety. This means that they are restless and extra noisy, but in a far removed way. This means that I desperately miss them walking around the yards and gardens. Their soundtrack and fluttering presence are both features of daily life I have come to need. This means that I now spend an extra amount of time in the chicken coop every day talking to them, petting them, and generally listening to them. 
   I have also been fortunate to receive several Green Goose orders this past week, so a chunk of every day is spent sewing. This means that my sewing room looks like an F-5 tornado hit. Thank goodness I have not yet acted on the impulse to replace the solid door up there with a windowed farm house door that is partly wrapped in chicken wire, because nobody needs to walk down the hallway and see that chaos.
   Thanksgiving is tomorrow, of course, so I have been following a torrid series of cleaning chores, rearranging impulses, table settings, cooking, and extra cardio, lest we arrive at the first of December having taken two steps back instead of one more forward. Speaking of stepping forward, I kept to my goal of not buying anything at all new for autumn decorating. Except for two things. But these baby pumpkins were grown here, which pleases my soul. 

   The big animals are all busy growing their winter coats, too. This requires me to touch them a lot more than normal and inhale them deeply, up close and personal.. These are important and time consuming tasks, you guys, and they’re further reasons why I haven’t been writing.

   
   Below is a glimpse of the Thankful Tree which I will be forcing my guests to decorate soon. We will write on paper leaves the things for which we are thankful and hang those leaves on this branch. Friends and family will either love it or hate it. Okay, I will love it and they will love it a LOT. By the way, I have been getting lots of emails from PW begging me for photography advice, because clearly I have mad lens skills, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day. She’ll be fine.
   But the main reason why I’ve not been writing much is just sheer, perfect, mind numbing shock that People magazine has yet again selected the wrong man for their annual crowning of “Sexiest Man Alive.” Bradley Cooper? Not disgusting. But also not sexier than this guy…
   And he has so many incarnations…

   When will we resist the mainstream? 
   Anyway,  there’s a lot going on. I am so happy to be on the brink of Holiday Season 2011. Good things are happening. Love is stronger than ever. Hope is rising and building just like we need it to. 
Wishing you and yours all of your favorite dishes and twice as many blessings!
Happy Thanksgiving from the Lazy W
xoxoxo

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

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

Turkey Warning

   It hit me yesterday that we are on the brink of Holiday Season 2011. It hit me like a frozen turkey on the wiggly part of my kneecap, but in a surprisingly good way. Now listen, I am not really a fast-forward-to-Christmas type person. In fact I greatly prefer to savor each holiday and special event as it comes, making it last as long as possible. But I also like to be prepared, and we all know that once Thanksgiving hits, the winter sands fall fast and furious through December’s hourglass. And this year I have sworn to N-O-T wrap gifts in the back seat of the car while Handsome drives us to a Christmas party. Nor will I mix A-N-Y dough that has to rise and bake in the same half hour. So I have some planning to do. Care to join the madness?

This is Clark Kent, aka General Grievous (because of his fantastic running style).
He is our big Tom turkey. He knows nothing of the American tradition of eating turkey dinner,
and we would appreciate your help in keep things this way.
His sense of personal safety helps him focus on supervising the smaller birds, 
which is his self appointed farm duty.

   Okay. As of right now, twenty-one days stand between me and our first scheduled holiday dinner of the year. And of those twenty-one days, seven are devoted to weekend fun with friends and family, so really fourteen days are available to prepare for Thanksgiving, winterize the farm, sew up some sell-able aprons, and  keep the animals fat and happy. Hopefully I’ll be spending some time with my beautiful girls too!

   Oh, and about ninety seven minutes ago I broke my O-T-H-E-R front tooth, 
so there’s that added to the calendar.  I am not even kidding.

  Inspiration is in no short supply.  Here are a few of my faves:

  • The Taste of Home website, which is packed with wonderful, more traditional recipes and bits of planning advice. Their article about planning ahead throughout the month of November could not have  posted at a better time!
  • Pinterest, where I can feed voraciously off of the creativity of others and assemble boards of my own like this one.
  • Country Living magazine (the only periodical I still get in print.  Unless you count the Anthropologie and seed catalogs, which I do N-O-T but perhaps I should)
  • Martha Stewart, in every possible incarnation.
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Yes, I still pay attention to her.  And I always will.
But the best part of this photo is not her oak leaf cornucopia craft project
but rather that old, chippy table and the candlelight glow of the whole arrangement!
Wow.
I have the normal seasonal chores to do:
  • fiercely editing and scrubbing the fridge, freezer, and pantry 
  • organizing and restocking the spice rack 
  • taking inventory of table linens and mending, pressing, or adding to that as needed
  • setting up a really great baking station and a ready-for-anything food packaging drawer
  • shopping early and thoroughly to avoid the eleventh hour crowds
  • cleaning underneath the furniture and inside the closets forgotten over the long summer
I see a handful of special projects on the immediate horizon, too.
  • re-cushion and recover the seats of our dining room chairs (Been meaning to do this for a while. A long while. It’s embarrassing.) as well as two old church pews
  • repaint the interior doors and frames and a few baseboards
  • sew a few special aprons (Have I told you guys about Tie One On Day yet?)
  • lots of fun crafts as time permits
  • prepare for the chicken coop Christmas decorating contest we’re entering
A few lists would be good.
  • Which parties are we hosting? Which are we attending? What recipes? Write a master detailed cooking list.
  • What Christmas gifts are being handmade and which are being purchased? I had better be well underway by Thanksgiving! This means one project completed every two days or more.
  • What recipes can be prepared ahead of time and frozen, and when will I be home to do this?
  • Which projects can be worked on in the evenings, watching movies with Handsome?
  • I will need to make visible, tangible progress every single week day. Every day counts. Use a calendar.
   
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   I am under no illusion that everything will be done perfectly and ahead of schedule. I am honestly relieved just to have organized my thoughts and started some shopping. Whatever unseen force kick started me yesterday must have known that today I would break my tooth again, because had I not already cleared the cobwebs from my mind I would already be surrendering to anxiety.  Instead, I am truly happy to see the holiday season approach!  We have so many blessings to count, so much love to enjoy, no amount of cleaning, crafting, or cooking could really do it justice.
   Here’s wishing you an organized but festive month of preparation for Thanksgiving and beyond! Count the good things in your world. Especially your front teeth.
xoxoxo

Pretty Average/ Awesome Day at the Lazy W

   Today was pretty average in routine but was extraordinary in depth.
Today was luxurious in its normalcy.  I groove days like today.  
I had no frantic errands to run, no emergencies to tend, no unrealistic goals.
And the thin, delicate veil of emotion I always wear 
was strong enough today to hold reality in plain view 
and sheer enough today to help me really feel and understand everything.

Interested?

6:00 a.m.  We snooze.  Multiple times.  We cuddle and re-cuddle and cuddle again.  We spoon like professionals.  The bed is warm, and the air coming in through the open windows is cold and fresh.  The skies are so dark it could be midnight.  I snooze even through the aroma of really fresh, strong coffee wafting up through the vents.  Until the geese wake up.  They are waaaaaay louder than roosters.
6:40 a.m.  Making breakfast for Handsome, skillet grilled club steak with fried eggs, toast, coffee, and grape juice.  Just coffee for me.  Pack his lunch.  Resist a plate of homemade chocolate chip-oatmeal cookies from last night.  Thinking heavily of the girls, wondering what they’ll be doing today, remembering a vivid dream I had last night.  This one was happy though, almost too happy to believe.  I hope it’s a sign of things to come, but it’s probably just a sign of my hope.  That’s okay; it’s a lot better than more nightmares.
7:00 a.m.  Celebrate the upcoming weather forecast of rain!  Our drought has been exhausting, and one really drenching weekend could make a big difference in hay production.  Start mentally planning a bonfire party with friends.  Chat with Handsome about everything on his mind.  Morning is usually when he wants to talk, and this was, as noted, a charmed morning.  Fell in love with him all over again.
7:25 a.m.  Handsome risks life, limb, and dry cleaning expenses to release the chickens and geese while dressed for the office.  We part ways for the day.
7:30 a.m.  Make the bed, start a load of laundry, fill the dishwasher, drink another cup of coffee.  Then find a sweater and some boots to go feed and water everybody.  While flaking off a round bale in the barn, I notice the hay is coming off in thin, compressed, spiraling sheets, like a cinnamon roll.  Makes me think of a friend who makes Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls expertly, so I text her.  (My friend, not PW.)  This chick is going through a lot in life but is strong and beautiful and such a happy addition to our life, I am wishing her dreams fulfilled in a BIG way.
7:55 a.m.  Back in the kitchen, one cat and one hen begging at the window.  Together.  How can I not find them treats in the fridge?  They get my intended lunch.  We all know I’m just gonna cave and have those cookies anyway.  Then back outside to water gardens, tidy up, etc.  EGAD!  We have tiny green tomatoes! In October!  
8:45 a.m  Last cup of coffee.  Lots of wonderful, loving messages today, not unrelated to the day’s specialness.  I can’t lie, I am a sucker for this many warm fuzzies.  But I nearly get derailed by the internet!!  Whoa, sister…  Whew!
9:05 a.m.  Write for a really fun writer’s workshop prompt limiting us to 100 words.  That is not very many words, you guys.  It is rad.  The other writers are crazy inspirational.  Moving along the laundry extravaganza.
9:45 a.m.  Prepping an apple shortbread tart for a friend in Handsome’s office.  Y-U-M that smells good.  Have you made it yet?  Finish filling dishwasher then start it.  Feed Pacino again (he has a hollow yellow leg these days) and deliver kitchen scraps to the chickens.  Collect just two eggs today, a lot less than normal.  Noting repairs suddenly needed in coop, I cannot imagine what happened in there.  Super happy pups today, Shao-Lin’s allergies are much better.  Geese are screaming about something, apparently just the need to be fed at the pond, not with the “common” birds.  I comply of course.  They have me so well trained.    
10:30 a.m.  Finish laundry and catch up on emails.  Discover the geese back up at the house, napping in the shade.  Ate a thick peanut butter sandwich and drank too much orange juice.  It was perfect.
11:00 a.m.  Up in the sewing room, working on apron orders and some imaginative fabric combinations.  No music today, neither any tormenting thoughts.  No tears.  Just lots of memories of family life, lots of prayers for the future, lots of strong hope and pulsing gratefulness for today.   Roosters are crowing peacefully.  Horses are ruffling and sighing at the window.  Sew Sew Sew!!!
1:20 p.m.  I sew for a long time, post some apron pics, and then read for an even longer time.  Herein lies the luxury:  Life hasn’t always afforded me this kind of disposable time, and it may not for much longer.  So for now and for as long as it is a benefit to us, I shall enjoy it.
2:40 p.m.  Read, read, read, sing with Pacino, read, dance with Pacino, read, write, write write, smile big.  Try to imagine what the girls are doing today.  Decide to throw in one last load of towels.  
3:20 p.m.  Exercise time.  In my sewing room.  As my skin heated up and the endorphins started flowing, so did the fabric ideas.  I kept stopping to position swatches and scraps together with trims and ruffles.  Dreaming big Green Goose dreams.  Remembering why we called it Green Goose in the first place.  More thoughts of the kids.  Decide to attend yoga class tomorrow.  Tell my friend and get invited to guest post on her blog!
4:00 p.m.  Shower time.  You’re welcome, everyone downwind of The Lazy W.  Then a fresh pot of coffee, a rare afternoon treat.  But my mind is loose and nimble, my typing fingers itchy.  For some reason, shampooed hair, perfume, and coffee are just my natural accompaniments for writing.  Handsome headed home now, my heart flutters.  Continued drafting a Proverbs 31 piece.  
6:15 p.m.  We both hear our stomachs growling at the same time, despite a stolen cookie.  Or three.  So I make us some grilled chicken wraps with red grapes and potato chips, and  we continued in our luxuriation.  I received a very happy phone call from our niece, a bride-soon-to-be.  I get to be in her wedding in a couple of weeks, and I am mucho excited about that.  Counting blessings, which are many.  Wondering what the girls had for dinner, but still happy, still no tears.  Just this overwhelming sense of appropriateness or something.  No, it’s calm.  Peace.  That feeling that no matter what, love trumps.
7:05 p.m.  Finishing Proverbs piece for today while Handsome does some surfing and shows me every funny thing he finds.  Pacino serenades us.  Doing some delicious blog hopping and am amazed to watch the evolution of some of my stand-by faves.
8:20 p.m.  UH-OH!!  Almost forget to lock up the geese.  I make it outside with a flashlight and find all five of them nestled up in the front yard but desperate to be put to bed.  They follow me to the coop without delay, and I am pleased to see Clark the turkey is already there too.  In the water tonight, not trapped behind the tiny coop doors.  Good luck, sir.  Good luck.
8:25 p.m.  Finished mixing up sweet iced tea and serve Handsome some of that apple tart.  Yes, it was baked for someone else, but I’m not crazy.  There are certain marital indiscretions not at all worth the price, and making this recipe without serving at least part of it to him… is on that list.  Say hello to a couple of friends, text my first born, bid the world good night. 
Again, the circumstances of today are not unusual.
It’s probably a pretty boring read to outsiders.
But I am happy to document this shift in deep peace.
I reflected all day, in relative quiet, on the roads we’re traveling.
I railed a bit against some of the injustice I see,
against some of the obvious pain and worry,
but then laughter overtook my heart and spilled out in the form of true peace.

Feeling so thankful for illogical happiness.
For unconditional trust in Love.
I hope you had a good Tuesday too.
xoxoxo