☼ Forest & Field Happenings ☼

Summer is here!  There is heat and  growth is everywhere.  The spring frenzy has dissipated and now it it is time to keep up with the gardens, creating for Etsy, and have some summer fun......!?

30 pounds of storage potatoes planted.

Trying a later planting to have my potatoes ready when it is a good time put them in the cold room...like when it is cold.  Also, I have been told by a friend that her later planting missed the potato beetle!

But far from the late potatoes I planted early potatoes, Augusta Variety.  They are coming on very nicely....can't wait!

Cukes are up & need thinning...

Summer carrots are up and need thinning & weeding!

Summer Squash!

Beans need thinning.....

Pie cherry tree is loaded...hope I can beat the birds!

Bumbles are busy in the Blueberries!

New growth on the spring planted trees.

Winter rye needs to be cut for potato mulch....

♥♥♥ Still time to pause & reflect on the beauty around me ♥♥♥

☼ Forest & Field Happenings ☼ DUCK Update

It was getting pretty dirty in Duckingham Palace so time to clean it up!  But I needed to get the these teenage ducks out into the yard.  Runner Ducks are a bit skittish.  They are not your cuddle duck at all!  They are very wary of anything new.  So it was time to let the fun begin!  First I got the yard all set up very nice.

Then I opened the door...

Quite a lot of squeaking and clustering....they were not going to go out on their own accord!  So I gave them a bit of help.  2 at a time I grabbed them and put them gently out the door.  Until I got 6 out to stay they kept coming back in...wish I could have filmed it for you...it was a bit of a duck rodeo!

Finally outside for the first time in their lives!  Just think about it, they were born in a hatchery, put in a box that flew on an airplane, came to my house and lived in a cardboard brooder for the first 2 weeks.  The big wide world must be quite a shock!

The Duckies are doing what I call The Cluster Duck...they move in a mass as if they are one duck!

Finally, they settle down a bit, but, they don't seem to know what to do with the water.

But they are Ducks and instincts soon take hold.  First One Duck...then....

2

3

jumps to 5

now 7

9 seemed to be the limit

Until!

Capacity 10!

I got these photos by standing still for about 15 minutes.

I made a move and...

Duckingham Palace is back to its Royal "Sparkling" Clean Splendor.

The Duckie Doodles are going in and out on their own.

and

I am looking for a bigger tub!

~~~Gratitude~~~

This past weekend we took a day off and got off the work farm!  It was a glorious day with dramatic skies and summer heat.  Nothing too fancy just a drive, a picnic, and a walk.  We have a standard transmission Kia Rio which we can get about 45 mpg so our little jaunt cost us about $8.00 in fuel.  We both have been working very hard on all of our projects, together & apart.  It was so nice to just be together without a task.  Here are some of the views from our little Maine road trip.  

Camden, Maine ~ a bit of a tourist town.

Beautiful Houses one minute...

...the next will be something else.

Lincolnville Beach

Our picnic spot in Belfast, Maine

Walking on the docks in Belfast

I could NOT resist a bit of wading in the ocean!

Selfie of me and my BFF!  The DH him SELF!

Very Grateful for a day off....NOW BACK TO WORK!

~~~

It is my intention, each week, to share something that fills me with Gratitude. 

I write ~~~Gratitude~~~ with the wavy lines to represent the gratitude ENERGY~~~~~! 

I hope you will join me and share your gratitude moments. 

~~~Amen, Blessed Be, Namaste'~~~

Pause & See

There isn't much time for sitting, reading, or just doing no~thing right now but, I find my Self constantly pausing and looking into the woods.  This final spring green with the remembrance of the open winter woods just catches my breath.  There is something so alluring about the darkness that the woods emit this time of year.  So many folks feel closed in by winter it is the opposite for me.  In the winter the woods beckon...in the summer there is a sense of pause and privacy, it is like I am not allowed.  Of course, all the work in the open keeps me out as well as the mosquitoes.  It IS beautiful to be on the edges just looking in, knowing mysterious wood happenings are occurring.  

A poem for today~~~ (the only thing I have time and awakeness to read these days is poetry!)

Lost in the forest...

Lost in the forest, I broke off a dark twig
and lifted its whisper to my thirsty lips:
maybe it was the voice of the rain crying,
a cracked bell, or a torn heart.

Something from far off it seemed
deep and secret to me, hidden by the earth,
a shout muffled by huge autumns,
by the moist half-open darkness of the leaves.

Wakening from the dreaming forest there, the hazel-sprig
sang under my tongue, its drifting fragrance
climbed up through my conscious mind

as if suddenly the roots I had left behind
cried out to me, the land I had lost with my childhood---
and I stopped, wounded by the wandering scent. 

Pablo Neruda

...& the daily dose of duckie cuteness

+++ hummingbird wonder

I try to see something new each day.  It is part of my practice in "seeing".  The art of seeing is essential to any creative work in my humble opinion.  My favorites are the ones that stop me in my tracks!  Like so many folks I have a very busy mind that I struggle to quiet.  But by creating this practice it has given me many opportunities to pause and be with a new wonder.  I love to wonder about wonders.  These little seeings can be just the jolt my creative process needs to get out of a rut.  But mostly they provide a pause which is that moment of peace I need to heal from a frustration. These seeings are grounding for me and bring me to the present.  I will admit to laughing out loud with joy over some of these discoveries. They are a moment of childlike wonder!  

"When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky"             ~~~Buddha

"When you realize how perfect everything is you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky"             ~~~Buddha

~~~Gratitude~~~

The Garden Coming Together!

I am late with my Gratitude Post by a day...but believe me I was filled with gratitude by the end of yesterday.  I spent 8 hours in the garden getting my tomatoes peppers, and eggplants in the ground!

My tomatoes had gotten so long and leggy that it was quite a delicate operation to get them safely planted. I think I successfully planted 26 tomatoes and bunch of eggplants and peppers.  I haven't caught up on my garden notes yet.  I made some scribbles and left them in the little shed for now.  I was pretty tired after yesterday but mighty grateful my body held out for all the digging, hauling, bending, and lifting.  I do take stretch breaks right in the garden.  My favorites are the cobra and childs yoga poses.  Occasionally, I lie on my back and moan a bit but I am soon cheered by Runa's doggy kisses!  I am a little achy today but on the mends!

Next week will be potato planting!
Trying a later planting in hopes of thwarting the beetles!

Today I got all my planting containers rinsed and on the drying racks.
Not all jobs can be as glamorous as 8 hours in the garden!
Runa is a not too fond of the hose so she is keeping a safe distance!

Plants replaced by planter!

Finally some Duckie Cuteness!

Gave them a bit of hay to play with and search for seeds.

Seems like they are telling each other secrets!

Tomorrow I SEW ~~~ SOLD 4 more puppets ~~~ That is 10 Puppets this week!! 

Nearly out of stock!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/InJoyEcoCutie?ref=si_shop

It is my intention, each Sunday, to share something that fills me with Gratitude. 

I write ~~~Gratitude~~~ with the wavy lines to represent the gratitude ENERGY~~~~~! 

I hope you will join me and share your gratitude moments. 

~~~Amen, Blessed Be, Namaste'~~~