Chop Wood - Haul water: Living IN the meantime

 Parker J. Palmer says winters will drive you crazy until you learn to get out into them.

As I look ahead at my "spring" calendar, I find myself not ready for spring - even gardening - yet. Winter has not REALLY arrived yet in the north - in the Duluth/Superior area anyway.

The skis are waxed and waiting for enough snow - or travel to snow - to use. The snowshoes got some use early in the year, though we didn't really need them. The entry way into our house is a constant reminder of what is possible in this season of winter. I keep waiting!

So in order to fully "get out into" winter - I invested in the between time! It was a difficult splurge for a frugal gal like me. But Sara was overly supportive (maybe because I was getting cranky?)

I confess that I feel like a kid again!  The joy that this bike with 5 inch tires has brought into my life is difficult to describe.  Though embarrassed that a "thing" CAN bring me such joy, I remind myself that it is not the bike as much as the way that it facilitates my own "getting out into" this winter.

Hannah the dog LOVES it!  We travel the county roads, the trail around our woods, the snowmobile trail along the back corner of the property and even "spirit field" where she likes to run in the summer.  We named it Spirit Field because Hannah reminds us of the horses in the movie Spirit when she runs through it. Absolute freedom and bliss! For both of us, this is the perfect amount of "not enough snow" for this activity!

Also, in the meantime, the chickens have grown into magnificent and beautiful additions to the homestead.  No eggs yet, but soon. Both roosters like to practice finding their voice.  Sara coaches them daily! So far, they seem to be getting along ok with each other, and the hens.  Though roosters were NOT in the plan, they are part of what happened. And Hannah was not using that dogloo anyway!

Like the 1984 book, Chop Wood-Carry Water,  implies, the daily tasks of our rural lifestyle can become a ritual that borders on the spiritual.  I am struck by how a long weekend alone at home-focused on the routine tasks-can provide such grounding.  A walk in the woods to collect twigs to start a fire in the wood stove reveals the magic that occurred the night before; a light dusting of fresh powder on the evergreens, tracks of creatures of all sizes - Hannah knows what was there! The chickens need tending, their water checked and filled, a treat of black sunflowers keeps them occupied as they enter their recess pen outside.  We had a close call with a raptor during free range time a couple of weeks ago.  Gudrun lost what appeared to be a large amount of down feathers from her back side.  But, thanks to Hans Jacob (we can only imagine) she did not loose her life. Since then Sara has created a super dome effect over the recess pen.  That will be their "free range" for awhile until the trauma wears off (as much ours as theirs!)

I enjoy re-using things - some might call me beyond frugal. My latest are the fire starters, made from used toilet paper rolls stuffed with shredded paper and dipped in left over candle wax!  The idea was NOT mine, but I have all of the ingredients and they work great!

In his book A Hidden Wholeness, Parker J. Palmer says It is not about the absence of other people – it is about being fully present to ourselves, whether or not we are with others. Being home alone with all of these "tasks" that sustain our lifestyle facilitate my being more fully present.  Present to the moment of now.

As I find myself waiting for winter, realizing that spring is around the corner, I recall that few around here, including myself, were ready for winter this year.  Summer never really came either.  It was too short and too cool and too…

Perhaps the lesson for this full year of waiting for each season to arrive - in the meantime finding myself in and waiting for the next - is to learn to be more present with whatever it IS - in the meantime.  50 and still learning!  I can't complain.

Sunflowers and Chickens: A new year - and era

Come with me to visit the sunflowers, they are shy but want to be friends; they have wonderful stories of when they were young…(Mary Oliver, The Sunflowers)

These beautiful heritage sunflowers (3 different varieties and sizes) from Seed Savers Exchange were the hi-lite of my summer

Though it took patience, it was worth every impatient moment. Every time I walked over to Nammah, they greeted me with a cheerful wave and I responded with a smile.

They lined both entrances from the road

Fall 2014 also brought 8 new family members to Nammah:

Swannie, Robin Red Breast, Gudrun, Hazel, Cleopatra and Little Crow and two unexpected roosters Hans Jacob (formerly Synneva) and Frey (formerly Freya).

They hatched in late August, all 8 survived and we have grown to love them. They are hearty in the winter and absolutely beautiful!

Our PLAN was for 3-5 laying hens (noting special) and bought a coop to match. We connected with the amazing David Grote at Whipperwill Farm and were sold on the concept of preserving these "old world treasures" - Icelandic Chickens. We are both scandinavian, we plant heritage seeds - why would we settle for "nothing special" chickens?

In the meantime, Nammah continued to provide us with her bounty

The gaudy leonine sunflower hangs black and barren on its stalk, and down the windy garden walk the dead leaves scatter - hour by hour (Oscar Wild)

Though the melancholy sets in along with the fallow darkness,  I am reminded of the requisite renewal it holds.

Hidden seed

deep in the dark

soil of the earth.  

Fertile ground

womb of the night

Bring us new birth. 

(Sara Thomsen, Darkness Cover Me)  

Until spring Nammah, may we reunite with renewed fertility for the year ahead. The light is already returning and the calendar marks a new year.

Slow start to 2014

Spring was slow to come this year, with not enough warm days to convince our plants that it was safe to grow.  The tomatoes and peppers needed to be replaced (a tough blow for a start from saved seed kind of gal) but we WILL have a garden! As July ends Naamah is looking up.

Everything has a fresh layer of bedding. Wood chips around the edge and on the paths.  Pine needles for the blueberries. And straw for the squash.

She is even sporting new arbors at each entrance. Sara got her tools out and re-purposed some of the old center bed wood.  She was looking for a place for her clematis to grow.  
The harvest has begun, with loads of fresh greens.  The spinach (3rd planting already) is loving the cooler summer. I am loving the extra greens for my morning smoothies.

Sara surprised me with some new books about Naamah.  I learned a lot: a: I spelled her name wrong on the sign.  Perhaps Nammah will become the South Range spelling. I also learned that along with the midrash that Naamah brought the seeds, she was also thought to be a great singer who sang to the animals through the night to keep them calm in the ark. Her name translates to "her deeds were pleasant."  I had no idea just HOW perfect the name Naamah was for our garden, now our place!

After a day's work tending to her, we like to sit with our gin and tonic and just watch her the way a mother might watch her sleeping child.

Malcolm's Nammah Stay

In June we had a little visitor come stay at our place, accompanied by his mother, Sara's sister Erika. Malcolm Louis Swan spent several days gracing Nammah's place with his bubbling laughter and constant curiosity. 

Here Paula is looking up at the nest with mama Robin and her brood, and Malcolm is more intrigued with watching his aunt!

We had so many opportunities for making dreams come true with all the many "wish flowers" growing throughout the estate. 

Riding the "tractor" was one of the daily rituals. 

Eating strawberries fresh out of the patch was a major hit. 

Malcolm was a great helper in the garden. Loosening the soil...

Watering the plants...

Sorting through the plant containers...building blocks for garden grandeur. 

He was a busy little gardener! 

And lots of critters were discovered to befriend! Paula is not the critter I mean. Upon her finger is a squiggly caterpillar...

Some squiggly critters were just hanging from the sky. Mac loves this. Erika is not so sure. 

Eva the cat was another good friend Mac made on his visit. Here Eva starts a new trend of live garden statuary...

 All in all, a great time was had at "Nammah's Place," a new name extended beyond the garden gate to the whole place thanks to Mac's dad, Renny.  Renny--checking in daily from Mac's hometown of Austin, Texas--would always ask how things were going at "Nammah's Place."  It made perfect sense! 

It wasn't all work in the garden. There were flowers to smell...

Benches to visit...

And 4'x 8' plywood boards discovered behind the garden shed to run up and down! This was a fave activity of Mac's! 

We hope you'll visit again next year! Hannah misses her pal. And so do we!

Come again someday. That is our truest wish!!