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Sam and I made this mandala of stones to celebrate earth day tonight in the beautiful little rock and glass sculpture park that graces our humble ‘burb.

Then we ate lots of yummy desserts.

And threw some tasty bits in the blackberry brambles behind the park, as an offering to Momma Earth. I’m sure the rats and squirrels will be happy to serve as her priestly mouthpieces and accept the sacred morsels of baklava, macaroon and lemon bar.

Thank you, Earth. I love you so, your strong roots and beautiful rocks, your swift streams and luscious waterfalls, for your soft green moss and rich dark soil. For sand and clay and snow to play with, to frolic in, to sculpt. For plants and gardens, fruit trees and wild beasts. My eternal gratitude for sustaining and nourishing us foolish humans, even as we proliferate and perpetrate past all sense or justice or even sanity.

Thank you for being there every time I fall, exhausted, heart-broken, depleted and lost, into your leafy lap and every time I leap, excited and coursing with energy and life, bouncing with joy, dancing and sparkling with creativity, renewal and purpose.

May I serve you as you have me. May these hands, this heart, mind, body and soul nurture, protect, encourage, delight, celebrate and sustain you.

So mote it be.

I’m one tired, dirty puppy tonight.

My sweet friend Cara(professional ’scaper) is generously helping me landscape the front beds at my son’s school. The dumptruck plopped down 6 tons of soil this afternoon and we shoveled and shoveled and shoveled and hauled and hauled and hauled wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow up to the cement wall, where it took both of us to heft the thing up over the edge and dump. It wouldn’t have been quite so much work if the silly ass bed wasn’t brimfull of hard-packed ‘beauty’ bark, for some misbegotten reason deposited on top of plastic, laid on top of a nasty mixture of clay, rocks and concrete chunks-I guess they really didn’t want ANYTHING to grow in the bed, including the poor, pathetic, half-dead boxwoods we had to dig out. So, first we filled the upper bed with soil, then started excavating the beauty bark from the lower bed and breaking the rocklike chunks into spreadable mulch for the upper.

We got about halfway through the mountain when it got dark on us… Sigh. Another 3 tons to schlump tomorrow.

But it’s gonna be purty when ’tis done!

Potato harvest time!

Photo by Sam.

Autumn has it’s benefits.

Mmmmm…

I can’t wait for the first Thai Pink Egg ‘mater to ripen. They’re so pretty! I like my stripey green zebra guys-just et the first one to go orange and green. My favorite so far are the gigantic Black Krim-they’re so meaty it’s like a meal all by itself, all you need is a little salt.

Mmmmmm…….

My tomatoes have just gotten high enough to tie up to the lovely cedar arch trellis we made from a storm-fallen branch.

My one-boy army, Sam, sawed the little branches off.

The glorious Lisabee dug holes and pounded two-by-fours.

And now, my tomatoes are happily luxuriating, extending their lush green vines up, up and over, little green ‘maters dangling, slowly ripening in the yummy sunshine.

Aaaaah… Garden, my love.

See the evolution of lawn into garden here.

Once again, to usher in a whole new garden.

Harrrumph, that last 7 inches of lawn was grrrrravelly! Now, to compost and fluff the bed all nice for my new babies.

Woohooo! Tilth plant sale this weekend!

I was weeding yesterday when I realised that my garlic needed to be harvested pronto! Since I just happened to be recieving a blessed new massage trade from my new friend Sophia, and my mom was babysitting and Sophia’s husband Nathan and daughter M’khela were s’posed to drop by later on, we all harvested together and turned it into a garlic celebration dinner!

Nathan just happens to be an excellent photographer, so I couldn’t resist a little shameless rolling about in my harvest.

Ahhh… Garlic. That should keep the vampires away…

Oh shoot-that might keep the vampires away!

I love garden broccoli, so I always plant it, despite the puniness of the heads I usually get. This year, my broc surprised me!

Sam hates broccoli, but loves chopping things, so he got to harvest the pretty head. I ate the whole thing raw, with our nori-wrapped hotdog lunch.

Mmmmm…

Yes, I know I’m wierd, thank you very much.

Is pulled pork, avocado, diced tomato, aoili and garden lettuce wrapped in a nicely warmed pita. Eaten in the cool evening breeze along with broccoli snapped right off the plant.

Wash it down with a tall cold glass of lemonade, but don’t bother to wipe the rich meaty juice as it flows all over your fingers.

Lap it up, savor every last lick, every tiny fold of luscious skin.

Heaven, pure devilish heaven.

Sam and I built a trellis-hope the bamboo holds up to the weight of all those tomatoes! I was laying in the hammock when he went to pick some ‘lemon leaf’(sorrel) and it was such a pretty view with all the herbs in bloom, so I snapped a few shots… But I forgot my son’s penchant for bizarre photo face.