this magic moment

well i went inside to find a pen and paper.
i made it back outdoors nearly an hour later, having sunk into the depths of facebook. blogs & emails...
upon leaping into my hammock, i found the laptop had remained glued to me, yet the paper & pen still lay inside.

so i will give in and record my reflections here, for myself and for you.

last month i attended a creative writing workshop with sweethome at breightenbush hot springs. it was my first experience there, and what a dreamy place! a real live thunderstorm blessed our final night there. as we laid in our cabin, we watched lightning crackle and thunder boom. as the storm passed, we made our way to the healing pools and sat under the falling rain and absorbed the heat, earth agni, ancient minerals, and soothing silence.

breightenbush hot springs...

 the river swollen with snowmelt.

i heard the bridge is a magical place to stargaze.

saving a list of new adventures creates magical daydreams.

 warm weather & long summer weekend camping

a new seat. 

today i am luxuriating in my backyard heaven. our two hammocks have found their summer homes. (of course june which i curse as "june-uary" will bring back some rains and force us back into the house.

as i reclined in my hammock i wanted to reflect deeply in this moment. the blue sky. wrinkly apple tree leaves waving to nobody in particular. the neverending wind, rhythmically sharing its blessing with all beings. the leaves dance with joy, frolic with blissful unawareness. unaware of the pain of self awareness. self realization is the path to connect us with all levels of consciousness and remove our humanness.
experiencing the embodiment of our divine nature.

cross section of compost... 

we are beautifying & utilizing.

 this truly is a summer of celebration & abundance.

 jai lakshmi!

the climbing roses are particularly vivid this year.

phoebe cat is very very happy these days.

making my momma proud.

faery door.

poppies reseed so well here.

lupine loves the windy climate of the columbia gorge.

all photos from my instagram feed. 

om shanti shanti shanti

Feelin' Good

photo: abbytryagain

My garden has exploded! I feel like the entire city just BLOOMED while I was away! What a week of 85 degrees temps will do. Now all the roses are showing their colors, my collard greens are big enough for me to notice slug attacks, and the weeds are so so happy.

After a long and energetic vacation back home, I reveled in a silent house this morning. Roommates all scattered at their various jobs, I had a rare few hours with just myself and a quiet, overcast morning. While cleaning the kitchen, I popped out into the garden, dug in the herb garden, fed the chickens a few wilted tomatoes. Something about cleaning the kitchen creates this amazing space for my heart to really settle. I am a homemaker at heart. Whenever my inspiring bloggers share their heart's desire to be a wanderer, I am reminded of my longing for a little farm. My visions of family include goats, chickens, honeybees, and all kinds of rural adventures.

Something about clearing space in my home create space for soulful expression either by movement, writing, chanting, or meditation. This morning, the writing bug caught me, and several topics arose.

Ego, Yoga and Feeling Good
Release attachments to the shapes created within yoga asana. Asana means posture, which reminds us of the emphasis upon the spine. Without a long spine, and comfortable breath, we are not practicing yoga.
Remove the link to the ego, or individual self.
The breath is a messenger to our infinite self, revealing the connectedness between each and every one of us.

Value Assignments
Most of us do yoga to feel good, or look good...
We know that we will feel good after doing yoga, and we know that we might feel bad while doing it, so bad we might want to quit, walk out, never come back.... but we don't. We Stay.
We have been told that "Pain is Weakness Leaving the Body"
Look past this conditioning. Remove the value assignments. There is no feeling good or feeling bad... Just Feeling.



That being said, I love this song:
My Brightest Diamond "Feeling Good"
Dark Was the Night Compilation

Hard Work

We've dug up dead grass clods, escaped armies of ants, cuddled with a furry friend, spoiled some feathered fatties rotten. I am working on my disc golf throw, tasting summer rye micro brews, practicing yoga in the dappled shade and loving every minute of my dreamy escape.



Today I actually sent out a couple resumes, designed some custom invitations, signed up for a new street yoga gig, harvested some vegetables, cleared way for the winter crop of cruciferous vegetables.



Perhaps my roommates just want to pay me to garden, cook and clean? Think of all the delicious, healthy meals we would feast upon in the verdant garden...

Mulch Madness

Sunday was a day for outdoor productivity. After reading several chapters in my beloved hammock, I cleaned, organized, and did some shopping. Tulsi in bulk from The Herb Shoppe. Aquamarine essential oil blend from Escential Oils. Soaker hose, water faucet splitter, and brand new garden hose all joined me on the little blue bike and we made our way home.

The tomatoes, newly transplanted to the front yard for maximum sun exposure are wilting a with the first heat wave of the summer (we hit 100 people!)  My lazy morning routine doesn't provide much time for watering, but I think I can mange to turn a knob while running out the door.  After turning on the hose for a test run last night, the temperature decrease was palpable. I think our plants will be much happier from here on out. We spread a nice layer of mulch to help the soil retain some lovely nutrients and friendly worms.

Oh! And the poppy seeds I planted have started blooming! All are red so far, I was hoping for some pinks and purples too. The tallest sunflower is as tall as me! I bought some lupine seeds which I hope to give a head start this summer, and set up for flowers next year.  Pictures you say? Alrighty!

How is your summer garden?! Trying any new things?

Source: will you be my patronus?

i like books

The Selby arrived in my inbox, and really struck a chord with me today. Featuring Jamie Isaia and Anthony Malat, photographer and clothing designer power couple, their house is a maelstrom of fabulosity. They obviously followed the {rules}.

Just this past weekend, Travis and I cleared out our massive bookshelf (which had been pared down by 2 moves previous already) and boxed up the books for reselling. The re-purposed bookshelf is quite lovely with plants and wine glasses, ceramics, cookbooks and board games creating a multi-use area in a new part of the house.

But still, the bookworm in me wants to hoard every aromatic bound-stack of papers. A bookshelf is a visual timeline, much like songs that can take you back, viscerally into a moment in time, a book reminds you of where you were, and how that author changed you in a small, or dramatic way.

So, to get the Selby "all up in my place" I need to collect picture frames, old books, antique trunks, magifying glasses, yellow chairs, gilded mirrors, animal bones...

However opposite of my current minimalist/shedding phase, I look forward to being settled one day in a home where accumulation (but not hoarding!) will occur, bringing wisdom and grace with batty old age.

rain falling on cinder blocks

This morning as I picked up the food pail to scatter feed for the chickens, two pairs of beady eyes peered up at me from inside the cinder block where food pail sits. Our resident rodents, pesky little buggers that love dining on chicken feed. One guy hightailed it outta there, but the other one got stuck in the other hole and zipped in a few circles before practically jet launching out of the block and into his little rat hole.

Not sure what to do about this. Rat trap, yes. Poison, no. And when we do catch the furry dudes, what do we do with them? This might be a problem for craigslist. "FURRY FRIEND NEEDS GOOD HOME... Well fed backyard rodent. Resourceful, lives well with chickens...."
Then post this picture:

Images: 1, 2

humus

hu·mus (n) In soil science, humus refers to any organic matter that has reached a point of stability, where it will break down no further. In agriculture, humus is the organic component of soil, formed by the decomposition of leaves and other plant and vegetable material by soil microorganisms.

We are a veritable worm factory these days! As Travis and I worked the compost pile, we found a stash of old straw from the chicken coop that was a mad house of red wiggler worms. I squatted low for a moment, and observed the silent, pervasive movement in every direction.

Apartment living was tough right after moving out of my parent's house, we have been composting for so long, it feel downright wrong to throw vegetable scraps into the garbage. I hear rumblings of testing compost collection in the city, hopefully that becomes available for people who don't have the space for a big pile of dirt.

Portland also provides many community gardens for apartment dwellers to get out and garden in the city. I recently read about some studies confirming the endorhpin boosting chemicals in dirt. Pretty much exactly what my mother has been saying for years... The article on Huffington Post puts it perfectly: "Have you ever seen an unhappy earthworm?"



We have found many a gigantic grandaddy worm,  which we should probably leave in the yard to propagate. But with the plethora of wormy friends, we can't help but indulge our hungry hens.



With all this dirt piling up, we decided to dig in and turn a couple mud pits into garden beds. The apple tree provides alot of shade in the backyard, which is perfect for an herb garden.


Planted: oregano, thyme, cilantro, dill, basil, wildflowers, cuban oregano, nasturtium. After the wildflowers come up I plant to transplant them into blank spots in the yard, and plant more herbs! Any favorites??

indoor/outdoor

I have several old wooden pieces of furniture that would love a makeover! Thrift and garage sale finds, nice construction but no colorful love. Although the drawers by the front door do have some paint drippings splattered about. I start getting creative urgings when the sun stays out all day, weekends just scream "Spring is here! Lets get outside and sandblast some shn!t!"

image from decor8 via griege

all the mountains

Saw several globes gracing the tops of shelves this week. I like.

{poppytalk}

My parents kept a vintage globe in our house that resembled the dusty colored ocean globe on the far left of the image below. I think it was even a topographical one, and you could feel the mountains under your fingertips as you spun the oversized orb in its stand.

{smile and wave}

Apologies for my lack of blogging, haven't had much time in the evening to catch up on my blog reading! I have also been trying to downsize my Google-Reader-ship. I had over a thousand blog posts to read after my week of jury duty and vacation. I am the type that sees that number and fees compelled to bring it down to ZERO. Just like my inbox.

If there is an email sitting there that is not in a folder or tucked away somewhere else, it is considered a "to-do" and can be archived only after replying, or following through (such as picking up a library book on hold!) This is very similar to my house-cleaning style. I have to make the bed before I can fold the laundry. Shoes, keys, letters and pony-tail holders all have a home, and should be placed there consistently.

Moving in with my dearest Trav has probably been a sea change for his cleaning habits... I don't think I come across to people as a neat freak, but boy do I love a clean house. Lets the chi flow ;)

forest underground

my heart leapt when I beheld these amazing rugs!

Angela Adams's collection features furniture, unique ornate rugs, and many other amazing designs! Someday I would love to invest in such a whimsical and beautiful rug.

{link}

I could spend hours watching the slideshow on her website... so many amazing forms, collections and colors!

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Back home with my yellow cat!

Playing in mom's garden...Everything is so lovely! My how fast a year can pass.

The purple heart has really taken over in the backyard. The fading sunset really highlights its unique color.