~~~Gratitude~~~

The view from just up the road a quarter mile

Today I wish to express gratitude for the place on earth that I live.  Hardly a day goes by that I am not grateful to be living here in Freedom.  I have always been a wander of fields and woods, beaches and ragged shores, hills and dales...you get the picture!  I am so happy that each day I can ramble out my door and experience what nature has to offer each and every day!

Here are some of my encounters from the week......

My Raven Friend

A Surviving Nest

Up the Road

View from the Top

More Earth & Sky

I DWELL in possibility
A fairer House than Prose,
More numerous of windows,
Superior for doors.

Of chambers, as the cedars--
Impregnable of eye;
And for an everlasting roof
The gables of the sky,

Of visitors--the fairest--
For occupation--this--
The spreading wide my narrow hands
To gather Paradise.

Emily Dickinson

As written in The Oxford Book of American Verse co 1950

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'~~~

Lax Grass

(So grass if it knew itself
would be less that it thinks
and as great as it is
and greater than it
thinks it is)
All in a single moment.

Robert Lax
Circus Days & Nights

These were made from extra bits of a Fiber Art project (that is still in progress).  Robert Lax is one of my favorite poets.  I am, absolutely, in love with his work and the story of his life!  Check out my "I read" list for some of my favs.  If you Google Robert Lax you will find many links to his works.


The Green Grass & Text were letter pressed onto cotton canvas at A Revolutionary Press, Harborside Maine.


Robert Lax (1915-2000), was a little known American abstract minimalist poet and spiritual hermit. Lax may be best know for his friendship with the Trappist Monk, Thomas Merton.  Though, I wish he could be known more for his own works.  Lax wrote many poems but was not well published in the US.  I love his writings and hope to bring more of his wonderful poems to light through my art work.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/126246907/green-grass-party-crown-with-letter

Easy as 3.14

Last night while cooking dinner I suddenly remembered that tomorrow (today) is Pi day!  In the past I would not have been as aware of this correlation of 3.14 and March 14th. Well my son is a bit of a math wiz.  I call him the mathmagician.  Besides higher math he is like a human calculator. Not sure where he got that talent neither his dad or I possess anything near his skill.  But one thing I do have in common with my son is a love of pie!  So it only seems "rational" to have pie for breakfast on pi day!  (If we had ice cream in the house then we could be totally "irrational")

Dinner was nearly ready so I had to be quick to get a pie in the oven.  In my usual free form method of cooking I made this blueberry pie.  Instructions included

I didn't think of blogging this until the crust was done.  But my crust is easy to make.  I use organic whole wheat pasty flour that is kept in the freezer.  I think since the flour is so cold it allows me to roll it out right away.  So no chilling required.  My "secret" ingredient is Spectrum Organic Shortening (see link on the side)  Before I discovered this product my pies did NOT come out great every time.  It has made whole grain pie possible!

Preheat oven to 425

2 cups WW Pastry Flour
About 2/3 cup Org Shortening
Splashes of Cold water

Cut the flour and shortening together ~ the splash in cold water while mixing with a fork to get a dough that holds together ~ mix as little as possible to avoid a chewy crust.  Roll out half the dough on a floured cloth adding flour or water sprinkles as needed.  Line your pie pan.  I dump in frozen home grown blueberries to fill the crust.  

Sprinkle about 2 Tablespoons of quick cooking tapioca on the berries.

Then a scant 1/2 cup of Organic Sugar

Top with the other half of the dough.  Cute birdie thing is not required but they do seem to vent the pie well.  Plus they are just sweet and fun!

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes then lower temp to 350 and bake another 25 - 30 minutes until the berries bubble.

We did have pie last night but, breakfast is my absolute favorite time to have pie!

Teenage Boy Pi Day Breakfast

 Mom Pie with Yogurt on the Side

Happy Pi Day! 

Runa got her share too!

3-14-15 will be epic!

Bring Spring Inside

This is how my forsythia bush looked on March 1st.  I planted it 20 years ago, the first year here.  I moved the poor plant 4 times before it found it's permanent home near out fire pit.  It has flourished there.  I love this plant most for what I enjoy this time of year.  On March 1st I cut a bunch of branches and brought them inside.

I put them in a big vase full of water.  They are sharing window space with my onions.

Today the branches are in full bloom.  I nice splash of yellow!!

 This my view from my prep peninsula in the kitchen.  Sweet!

Found this cool concrete poem on the web...I think it says it all!

http://writing.upenn.edu/library/Solt-Mary-Ellen_Forsythia.html

Change of Boots

March is here and that means variable variabilities.  Or Variety is the spice of life!

Today was not snowshoe-able.  The snow is rotten and slushy.  But it is not time to store the snowshoes just yet.  March is a tentative time when it comes to the weather.  The feel of spring one day and full blown winter again the next.  It is a time to scrutinize the wood pile and wonder if you'll make it until May.  Some years we stop heating in April, but I have memories of cold May's.  Anyways, today Runa and I went for a walk on the road.  

Today we have mud!

Ducks Loving the puddles! 

Ready to hit the road!

Signs of Spring!

Dear March - Come in - (1320)
by Emily Dickinson
Dear March - Come in - How glad I am - I hoped for you before - Put down your Hat - You must have walked - How out of Breath you are - Dear March, how are you, and the Rest - Did you leave Nature well - Oh March, Come right upstairs with me - I have so much to tell - I got your Letter, and the Birds - The Maples never knew that you were coming - I declare - how Red their Faces grew - But March, forgive me - And all those Hills you left for me to Hue - There was no Purple suitable - You took it all with you - Who knocks? That April - Lock the Door - I will not be pursued - He stayed away a Year to call When I am occupied - But trifles look so trivial As soon as you have come That blame is just as dear as Praise And Praise as mere as Blame -

~~~Gratitude~~~

For a long time now I have been fascinated with views of what I call "earth and sky".   I like to see just the land and the sky, no trees, large plants, or buildings.  Digital photography has allowed me to collect these views with abandon.  I am a pack rat by nature and love to collect things.  With the digital pictures I can do that without creating clutter, not even piles of photos that need to go into albums.  

I was looking for a photo of my Grandma to show my son today and could only find a few.  Film and developing were expensive when I was a kid.  But now the sky is the limit with instant gratification!  No waiting to see if you got that great shot.  And you can snap as many as you like without worry of wasting film.  On my walk Saturday I took these photos nearly blind, the sun was so bright.  But I snapped away and then came back to the computer to play!  

So today I am grateful for digital photography!  Look what I did!! ( a little collage fun...too)

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'~~~

Pause & See

A leaf that looks like a button or a mask...?

And for those who had the blues during the grays....

Still some Grey

sunshine shadows

casts a moment in time

enchanting instant

orah

This a regular feature I plan to include in this blog.  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!