starts.

I started some seeds this year before March~ A personal victory!

Tomatoes of all sorts

Peppers

Luffa (did you know luffas -yes, the kind you use in the bath- are just squash?)

hot peppers

watermelon

hmmm, I can't remember what else off the top of my head...

The six packs/flats are looking a little weary from use, but they hopefully should do the job. The dirt is half worm castings/ half peat moss. They are upstairs now soaking in our southern exposure. Ema and I also placed an order for more seeds with Fedco this weekend as well. Yay!
Also, I would like to point out the little bit of curtain peeking in the photo- ah yes, next to our untrimmed window- they are a glorious/hideous 60's forest print that I found in the thrift store when I was desperate for curtains. Someday (hopefully soon) they will be replaced by something unquestionably cute, but in the meantime I thought I would get it out of the way and acknowledge them.

handmade dolls

I have been wanting to make Lil a doll recently. I made the doll above for Gita a couple years ago, and it has been well loved. Considering my lack of experience in doll making, and the fact that I swung it with no pattern I think I did pretty well! Also, considering the amount of hot glue I used to keep her together it is amazing she is still soft. Don't you love her hair? I sort of wish I had hair like that. Maybe for my next doll I will try to simplify it and hopefully use more thread and less glue... Maybe while Lili naps today I will begin.
Happy Monday!

p.s~ Love, please come home, we miss you.

mimicking.

So Lil has had a cold for the last week. Lots of boogers and snarffles. Lots of drool because she can't breathe through her nose. When she kisses you with her sweet open mouth kisses it can get pretty slimy...
So I have been using the snot-snatcher on her. The snot-snatcher is the bulbous shaped suction thingy that they send you home from the hospital with after having a baby. Before she goes down for a nap I will say: "Come on Lili, time to use the snot-snatcher" and she will look at it and burst into tears. By the time It is happening she doing one of those silent cries that means a huge shriek is coming. Needless to say it is an unpleasant situation every time.
So I was doing the dishes yesterday and Lili was playing at my feet. I looked down to see that she was fiddling with a doll that she had brought over. Then just as I was about to turn my attention away I realized she had the snot-snatcher in her hands. I watched as she carefully aimed the tip to the dolls soft and small thread nose and held it there... It is such a small thing, and yet so huge to see something I am doing to her mimicked back.

well, at least the doll looks happy about being snot-snatched!

bobcat.

Last night I was driving home at about 10PM (Yes I am back on the road now thanks to the NC DMV and my friend Lucy who so kindly let me borrow her car while she is away) I had just turned onto our dirt 1/2 mile road when I spotted the two animals in my path. One was an opossum and the other a small bobcat (It looked a lot like this). It took me a second to figure out what was going on- aren't those moments strange when a second lasts so much longer than a regular second? Where somehow even though it is only a second you have the time to think: What am I looking at?...*pause* Is that what I think it is??? *pause*......... OH! it IS.....
I stopped the car about 15 feet away from them; I turned off the radio but didn't dim my high beams.The bobcat stopped what it was doing and looked toward the car unsure. After a short pause it resumed it's interaction with the opossum though. Which by now I realized the opossum was in VERY rough shape. It was missing a baseball size chunk of skin and body from the nape of it's neck. All things considered though, the opossum was putting up a pretty good resistance. It wasn't being super nasty (I have seen a nasty, hissing opossum before) it just was trying to hold it's ground. The bobcat had a blood moustache...The bobcat would grab the open wound and bite at it until the opossum twisted away. Then the cat would step back and try a new angle. This went on for a good 10 mins with Lili snoring in the backseat and me with my mouth literally hanging open in the driver's seat.
Bobcats are fairly common all over the country but it still feels like an honor to see one. But to see one in action this close for so long felt special. The death of the prey was inevitable, but it was SLOW. The opossum wasn't going to just drop down and be eaten. At one point the opossum broke free and came teetering toward my car. I had to back up to give it room. The bobcat pounced after it playfully making me realize it was a young bobcat.Typically bobcat's are about 2 to 3 times a domestic house cat. This one was just slightly bigger than our fat domestic cat. Only it had longer legs, bigger paws, and ear tufts.
On one hand I felt frozen in place watching this unfold. I was thinking how this act of survival was both beautiful and yet slowly horrific too. It almost seemed like a conversation or a dance between the them. But it seemed secret, and I was left wondering if it was rude to be so invasive with my high beams so glaring on them?
On the other hand I was in absolute awe. Here I was, driving down my road~ listening to NPR and feeling so normal, and then out of the blue I witnessed this small act of life at it's core.
Under the brilliant starry sky last night, after I had driven on and went home to fill my fridge with groceries, that bobcat finished killing and ate the opossum I am sure.

This morning Lili and I took a walk to the spot where I saw it happen. I thought there would be a big bloody mess and maybe if I was lucky some paw prints in the mud. But when I got there I had search and search for the tiniest clue. In the end all I found was one clump of bloodied leaves...

treating myself...

... to some beautiful spring-like flowers.
I asked David if he would pick me some up at the grocery store the other day (I am still without a license or car~ but hopefully by tomorrow this will not be so!!!) The cala-lilies are so subtle and the dirt they are planted in damp, and they make me feel wonderful.
And they look so great in front of the handmade postcard that was made by my fabulous friend, Becca Johnson too...

Valentine

LiLiKOi:

Opening a Valentine that came in the mail
from her 2nd cousin Alton yesterday.
She was so cute yesterday morning... and such a mess last night and today : (
Hot, boogery, clingy, lack of appetite, whiney and cryey (That is a real word)and even glassy watery eyes... My poor little sweet Valentine...

meeting bubbles and camina.

I have mentioned it before, but I have to repeat that goat babies are one of the cutest things EVER. They are soft and cuddly and make little squeaky Maaaa Maaaa sounds. They (goats in general, not just the kids) have irises that are horizontal, which I think gives them a slightly goofy but wise look. This, coupled with their frisky and clumsy movements makes them irresistible. (However, I am a sucker for TLC's "Baby Story" show too, so maybe I am just a baby-a-holic...) Either way, Our new goat babies are wonderful.

Gita accompanied Lili and I up to the barn this morning to meet them. The mom goat, Windy, is refusing to nurse them (because she was bottle fed herself) so we are taking shifts bottle feeding the babies ourselves 4 times a day. First we milk Windy, and then transfer the milk into a bottle and feed the goats by hand. Although this is extremely laborious, the benefit is that the babies imprint on us, and will grow up to be very human friendly.

flying solo

Feb10th

Journal page: Feb. 10th. 7" x 8"

Lili and I head home to the mountains tomorrow.

Click HERE to see what we are going home to!!! eeeek!!!

The Blackwater River

This black water river. This river of my childhood...

The top view is something I looked out upon on my way to and from walking to school: grades 2-12. Lili and I took a walk down to watch the sun set over the snow and Crystally water this afternoon. The two of us are preparing to leave New Hampshire in a couple days, and we are starting to say goodbye.

Good bye to the deep snow. To the northern friends. Goodbye to grandparents. and cable TV. Goodbye to Alex who is staying to work for a few more weeks...

When I saw these leaves frozen in the river I felt like it was my metaphor for the last 5 weeks here. To be back living in my childhood home, and so far away from my typical day to day life... I feel like I have been frozen in mid motion. Like someone pointed a magic wand at me as I was spinning along (perhaps out of control?) and said freeze!

Of course I have been homesick. and I have found myself getting a tad depressed at moments. But most of all I feel SO lucky to have had this break. To have my parents hug me every day. and love on Lilikoi... And be removed from all of the distractions of "home". To be able to financially get back on track. All of this has been a HUGE blessing. I would recommend trying to freeze your life sometime.

It is a pleasant surprise...

Lil says "READ!"

The other day Lili and I were at our friend Caren's house and Lili came up to me with a book held out. Instead of her usual demand to read her the book ("Dis?" "Dis???") she looked at me and said "REA?" "REA??" It was so great!
She then proceeds to hand you the book and if you are sitting down she will turn around and back into your lap.
These photos are also from the other day. I was making breakfast at my Mom's and all of sudden realized it was too quiet. I peeked in the other room expecting a disaster, only to find that Lili had crawled up into this big chair with a book. I don't think these pictures even capture how cute she was. I hope this love of books continues for the rest of her life!

Cozy

Lots of time spent by the fire this month. I like to sit right in front of it until my back is scalding. To feel warm on a chilly day. To feel cozy in the dark days of winter...

Lili learns to feed herself with a spoon.

This is what Grandparents are good for. Being way more adventuresome with the grand kid than the parents are. I had yet to let Lil get this involved in feeding herself, but as you can see, she LOVED it. She is even eating something she typically wouldn't eat. Yesterday my Mom gave her two cups full of rice (to play with, not to eat), situated on a cookie sheet, in the middle of her living room floor. I am positive my eyebrows were raised when I saw what she was about to give Lili. I mean, just think of the mess! But of course, Lili LOVED it. And so what if there are little bits of rice hiding out in every crevice of the room now?

tech question?

So I have a question for you blogspot bloggers. How can I get a cute little grid of pictures on my blog? The past post is my attempt, and although it looks all artsy (sort of) I wanted it all together. Even when the pictures were smaller, and I uploaded them to both the left and right they did not want to stick together. Any suggestions? THANKS!
On another note completely, I just looked on the Carmona blog and saw that our friends Jason and Michelle have put up their first walls!!! It is weird to be so far removed from it, but it is SOOO exciting to see your friends putting up walls! And doesn't it look warm there? Weird! Okay, after about an hour fiddling with this darn blog to no avail, I am leaving you with the cutest picture of Lili in the bunch.

after he comes home from work...

family and friends and all the good stuff.

Michael, Terry, Jeff, Adam, Alex, Paul, & Mom

Today is my friend Christine's birthday (Christine of the wedding we went to in Nicaragua) and I was having a moment this morning where I felt sad that I couldn't be with her in Cali to celebrate, and at the same time I was having this beautiful breakfast with other old and dear friends at my Mom and Paul's. I feel like I am able to enjoy wherever and whomever I am with, but it doesn't stop me from feeling torn.
I have been thinking a lot this past year about how our family and friends are geologically scattered about. Because Alex and I are from different states, and live in another we have friends and family everywhere. I don't think this is unusual in this day and age, but I don't think it was like this for our great-grandparents. I don't think it is far fetched to say that they lived closer to their families and friends than we do. Of course, now that I wrote that I am realizing Alex's great-grandparents immigrated from Mexico~ leaving behind most of their families. So at least we live in the day and age of email, and facebook, and blogs, and ways to zip around the world.

So here is a toast to our loved ones.
The ones we are eating with, and the ones who are far away.