When Our Limbs Were All July

Barred Islands


Between their sandspit ends
we rowed, two spruce islands
moored in a blue Maine bay. 
And under the Sou'west sky
we rowed ashore to swim
for love, a summer whim
when our limbs were all July.


Riding in on the tide
with shipped oars, jade 
shallows under us, we 
both looked down at the play
of sun on seaweed gardens,
swaying whorls in the currents
we neither could see.


and then the kelp-grown slope
slid up to meet us, steep 
as a hill below our hull:
sand, stone, and clamshell
dredged by waves, time-
shaped by tide and fathom;
and then the tide was full.


We floated on hope at flood,
and over, over, the tide-
sunk bar; there where the run
of current, the waving sun,
showed clear on the waterglass
sand, on the seawind grass,
how the islands were one.


--Philip Booth


Now, isn't that just lovely?!  I've sort of been in a poetry lull lately, but this brought me back.  In fact, how is it that I really haven't read Philip Booth before?  He is great!  I was flipping through a friend's anthology, New Poets of England and America, and I just loved all of the Philip Booth poems included therein (6 in all).  I don't think I have a single book by him, but I am on a quest (Daaaaaad...?).  


There are several things I like about this poem.  It has very strong images that I find to be almost like a magical transport into the poem; I can almost feel the boat rocking as I stare down at 'the play of sun on seaweed gardens, swaying whorls in the currents we neither could see.'  And his use of language is lovely and evocative: 


'we rowed ashore to swim

for love, a summer whim

when our limbs were all July.'

and one more:

'the waving sun,

showed clear on the waterglass

sand,'

Plus, I just really like how the poem resonates with me. I'm not sure I totally get it, but that's ok. I think it's a metaphor, and a good one, at that.  I like the layers of it, for both the description of the day/experience and the relationship between the 2 people.  Read this poem out loud and you'll hear what he's doing with the rhythm of it, the near rhyme, the alliteration, the kinesthetic verbs, all of it working toward a poem that does its job; at least for me.  

The other Booth poems in this collection are: Heron, The Wilding, Vermont: Indian Summer, Twelfth Night, and North, in case you want to look them up on the intermaweb (or in that book that you're probably going to give me).

Well, look at that, I meant to write about what we've been up to over the last month, but got sidetracked by the poem.  Let's just go with that!  Here are a few pics and captions that should get you up to speed. It's been a lovely summer and in a few days, we're off to the beach for our annual trip.  Joy, if you're reading this, guess what, this poem is coming your way out loud when we're sitting on the sand.  Sweeeeeet!

new chicken gate made from my old chair rail trim--I even used a drill and measured!

grosgrain ribbon=good chicken barrier...just needs to look like a fence, doesn't actually have to BE one

Poppies!  Orange-y red crossed with cream to make this lovely color

"new" quilt that I picked up for a song! It is hand quilted with perfect little stitches on the back.

Fancy business for Caroline's 8th birthday

Some partygoers

Don't they look so sweet?

Caroline with Narissa, one of her favorite people on the planet

Mini Monkeys

Guess what?

"Roller coaster" road to Cayuse

Geisha, of the Cayuse dog pack

I love this picture, not sure why.  Kids in cayuse, half a border collie, old shed.

I bee jammin'

Cayuse beelord

The sweet business

New baby

Kids with Great-Grandma Ethel.  Doesn't she look great for 30-10?!

Jack and a Mater truck on our road trip shake break

mmmmmm...watermelon!

Me with tree house lumber...so much lumber

Matthew framing up the tree house

framed and partially sided

They LOVE IT!!!!

Walking Down A Path

"Some people like to make a little garden out of life and walk down a path."  
--Jean Anouilh


I am definitely 'some people.'  And in my little garden I like to plant lots of little pleasing things to enjoy along the path.  I'm home for summer now and I love it.  If you know me well, you know I like to be home most of all.  And I try to live in a way that will model to the kids how to enjoy the little things that make life the sweetest.  On Monday, we picked strawberries, as we have done every year since they were old enough to walk.  Tiny Pleasure: when you pick a perfectly ripe berry and it POPS when it comes of its stem.  The kids and I listened and laughed at those POPS!  

We picked 11 pounds this year!

Pro strawberry masher

Freezer jam--hit me up anytime!  We made 24 jars of it (and I'm making more on Friday). 

And of course, the BEST shortcakes--recipe below

4 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 TBS baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter (that's one stick)
1 beaten egg
11/4 cup whole milk
turbinado sugar (opt.)

Preheat oven to 400.  Combine first 4 ingredients.  Chop butter into pieces and cut into flour mixture till crumbly.  Beat in egg and milk.  Butter 2 cookie sheets, or use Silpats or parchment.  I use about 1/4 cup of dough per biscuit, but you can make them as big as you want.  I also like to sprinkle a little turbinado sugar on top--for crunch and sparkle!  Bake 15-17 minutes till golden.  Serve warm with sliced berries and homemade whipped cream (whip heavy cream in your mixer until it starts fluffing up--add sugar to taste and a splash of vanilla)!

It is also very good for breakfast!

Since I haven't blogged in a super long time, here are some pics of pleasing things from the last month or so.  


OM and I took our kids to the Mother Earth News Fair at the Puyallup Fair Grounds.  They enjoyed the composting toilets booth very much and each took a turn on the eco-thrones.  Who wouldn't want to sit on a toilet seat in public??  (Oh, that would be OM and I.)

These two chatted each other up on the outskirts of the chicken-rearing talk.  Love it!

Piggyback rides, of course.

The Sisters made our annual pilgrimage to Lummi Island.  So lovely:

Nance has had this gorgeous embroidered shirt since high school; we all covet it.   How cute is she???

How are the chickens, you may wonder?  Well, they're doing great!  Here they are in their new fenced enclosure.  Isn't the grosgrain ribbon fence lovely and functional?  I really need help with a proper gate, though.  It's a PIA to get in there.  We have awesome new next door neighbors who love the girls and we have removed 2 fence boards so they can range over in their fenced backyard, as well.  It's like a chicken-share!   

Koa likes to hang on the coop's roof and keep an eye on the chickens.  

Fanny chicken!

Black Australorps are soooooo pretty!

It's hard work being a chicken shepherd!

And Koko Kitty isn't the only one who's been working around this joint.  Caroline is a good mommy to her Baby Alive and gave her a nice bath outside the other day.  And yes, of course I had to heat water in the kettle to offset the ice cold hose water. Like I said, she's a good mom!

And Jack got inspired by the big box of scraps I brought home from the wood shop at my school (thanks, Dirk!!!!), and made a sign for our yard (as well as for 2 of our neighbors).  My dad made him the awesome tool box here and he loves using his tools!  

Thanks for stopping by the blog.  Come again soon.  And come to Duvall and visit the Elliot-Allens anytime!

And Still Through Every Clime and Age

The stars are failing, and the sky

     is like a field of faded flowers

The winds on weary wings go by;

     The moon hides, and the tempest

                   lowers;

            And still through every clime

                   and age

            I wander on a pilgrimage 

             That all men know an idle 

                    quest,

             For that the goal I seek is--

                   REST!

--James Whitcomb Riley

What a difference a 3-day weekend makes!  I feel rested, caught up, not in a hurry for anything, and peaceful.  This one extra day is precious and my praise for it tells me that I've been doing too much lately.  And that dang, am I ready for summer vacation or what?!   We've had lots of fun this weekend: dressing up for Caroline's doll's birthday party:

We were sooooo fancy!

We were outside all weekend and took all of our meals on the deck (except for today--raining!).  I weeded, mowed and transplanted seedlings (finally!).  Things are getting huge and looking lush!  So far, we've harvested our first radishes and spinach:

Pallet raised beds--my, how you've grown!  

 Watched poppies burst into bloom:

Enjoyed seeing the backyard flower bed NOT get scratched and pecked:

Loving the Cayuse irises from my dad and Tina's place:

The beans will soon cover this:

Who doesn't love a purple iris?!  And they smell sooooo good!

The chickens are now fenced in on the north side of my house.  They have their own side lawn, a garden bed to dig around in, rocks with hiding bugs and slugs, and their new favorite place--under the deck. While I miss watching them roam around the backyard, this is safer for them and less garden destruction for me.  Plus, they can be out all day, even when I'm at work, so...more freedom but less range.  Seems like a pretty good trade.  I made their fence out of spare parts from OM, leftover bits of lattice that I found behind my shed, the old chair rail trim that used to be in my dining room, and...grosgrain ribbon.  Notice I did not say BUILT the fence, but rather MADE the fence.  The ribbon was necessary to create the illusion of a tall barrier that they should not try to fly over.  And I must say, it's working beautifully.  Don't underestimate the utility of sewing notions:

Hello, ladies!  Don't try to escape--muhwah ha ha!

I do believe this ladylike, fluttery iris is sticking her tongue out at us!

Peanut butter French toast for breakfast today--yummy!

I wish you a day filled with all the pretty flowers!

Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bole?

O chestnut tree, great rooted blossomer,
Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bole?
O body swayed to music, O brightening glance, 
How can we know the dancer from the dance?
--W.B. Yeats


Those are good, thoughtful questions, aren't they?  I've been thinking about questions like these a lot lately, as I've been so busy and consumed by many things, great and small.  Not blogging, always feeling like I'm running to the next thing, too many balls in the air.  In the evenings to decompress I like to just sit quietly.  No blogging.  No Netflix movie.  Limited plans.  And I think, am I the root, the blossom or the bole?  If I had to pick, I'd say: the root.  Grounded, responsible, stubborn.  Some days I'd prefer to be the bole and just drift off in a puff!  And who wouldn't want to consider herself a blossom?  Hello!  I know, I know...I'm all three...we all are.  We're all the dancer, we're all the dance.  But I like to think about things like this, when it's dark and still and the world is quiet.  

I do my best every day to really live it.  I'm trying to be a quieter mom (read: less of a yeller). I'm striving for peace in my daily life.  Less worry.  Letting things go.  Saying yes nearly every dang time when a kid asks for another popsicle; today Jack had 6 and Caroline had 4.  Who cares???  Gotta go to the store tomorrow for more!  Last night, the kids and I took our neighbor's puppy for a walk to the park and around town a bit.  It's a great pleasure to walk after dinner; I just love it!  Jack even found the first salmon berries of the year and climbed down a steep creek bank to get some for all of us.  When we got home, we sat at the top of our driveway and had a popsicle. The concrete was still really warm from the day's heat, the sun was going down and the sky was pretty, and we just enjoyed the 10 minutes of sitting there, slurping down the 'cicles, trying not to let one side break off and fall on the ground, soaking up each other and the moment.  This is what matters to me the most: dancing the dance.

Sowing Seeds

Dirt-caked days of Spring

bring a song with every step.

Honest hands, 

knead, sift, pull, poke and pat, 

tucking in seeds like children.

Legs sore,

shoulders pink,

hair full of debris, and

I am born again--

up through the earth

pulled as if on a string 

toward all the light 

of the world.

--M.Elliot

Well, it's certainly not a fancy poem, but I did write it, and it's the truth.  Every year when Spring comes, usually waltzing into my neighborhood sometime in April, I become a born-again gardener.  I mean, it's not like I really forget about my garden, far from it--I dream about it, sketch it out, order 50 billion seeds (from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds--my fave), look at pictures of the garden from years past--BUT, until She actually shows up, it's like I didn't really believe it.  You know, like say, delicious chocolate-- it's super tasty, but until it's melting on your tongue, you really can't grasp the depths of its awesomeness, the richness of the experience.  Garden dreaming is wonderful, but it's 2D--putting your hands in that dirt is a whollllllle 'nother experience.  You hear me?  

I made these raised beds out of pallets

If you're going to make a strawberry pallet garden, you're going to need a piece of plywood for the back--garden cloth alone ain't gonna cut it!

Big clamps and a drill will be necessary

Voila!

a concrete block makes a swell sedum planter

garlic is looking good, snap peas are planted by the length of fence and cauliflower, broccoli and spinach are in the cold frame

radishes, carrots, onions, lettuce, bok choy, and spinach are in this bed

indoor grow operation:  hollyhocks, borage, bees friend, calendula, cosmos, moonflowers, and peppers

So, that's what I've been doing instead of blogging this last month!  Next time I'll tell you about my chickens and adventures in fencing.  Until then, I'll sign off with some nerdy garden humor.  Happy growing, Friends!