earthen apprentice:

(our favorite snack: raw kale chips with nut cheese.... almost done!)

today: teddy's got quite a painted rock collection.

watering my babies today. houseplants needa getta lil' sun.

fog, sun, green trees, rocks, fibers: we've been doing it all lately. the front door was wide open all day, the mocking bird is chip-chirping outside, and there is a literal mountain of laundry to do.

yesterday: sunny. grinding stones at the maidu museum in roseville.

this was a kitchen of sorts.

peroglyphs, 5,000-10,000 years old, rght in the wonky town in which i live.

fed by acorns from trees like these, is this very area.

friday: folsom lake.

a place called beek's bight. i had never been before. i was captivated by the ancient lava flows...when my ankle is a little less cathartic i will scramble over them. the stone people. for now i am satisfied with my hobbling, it's been a month since i broke it and i must say i am pleased at the quickness of my recovery.

teddy was in rose quartz heaven. little scamp is now reading some words. i've been dreaming about these days.

lady diana met us there with her charge, gigi.. little linker is wearing the only clean/warm thing the house had: a 49niner's onesie that my mom puts on cold grandchildren when they come to visit. i hope to return it to her soon. :P i think ty and i will watch the thing, because, well, it's utterly absurd. (<-----i wrote that yesterday. and the thing is on now. my first super bowl. occasionally ty, my usual non-sport viewer, will make sounds like someone has spilt hot tea into has lap, and i will look up, alarmed. i'm not accustomed to sports being viewed in the house....i've seen some really crazy things tonight..honey boo-boo references need to stop....laugh tracks need to stop. i'm experiencing this cultural activity with a detached curiosity.)

i love her. true to form we talked about the "trip" we're going to take to europe this summer. isn't that what people in their twenties do? even when they have children? some days i feel really good about everything, overcome with beauty; other days are complicated mazes through strange psychic spaces, where i don't have the experience or vocabulary to describe the place where i am at. i've been a mom since i was 19. there's a lot that i still yearn so strongly to do and feel, there's so much maturing and growing into my self to be had. it's hard to navigate those roads when most moments are spent caring for someone other than my self. this is why i encourage potential mothers to conceive in their thirties: they might know themselves a little better, they might feel a little more rested and grounded with the world. i, on the other hand, just have to flex my spiritual muscles a little more, pray for the courage to be patient with my growth, and play play play with my little loves. i mean, i never would've known anything about any of this with out them!!!!  (it's true: my heart split open after i gave birth to linky, and everything i knew about myself disappeared. that is a story that is still being told, i don't know the ending yet...) but, really, i am taking linky to europe on my back this summer. ty, you're invited. teddy, you'll stay with grandpa tom. you can go when you're in your twenties.

gigi and teddy fading away into truth

if a child is to keep alive his/[her] sense of wonder...he/[she] needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him/[her] the joy, excitement, and mystery of the world we live in... -rachel carson

the saddest picture of the coolest plant: dutchman's pipe. we went on a native plant walk. happy.

sticky monkey flower, yerba santa, hoary coffee berry.....i love them all.

i could live here. there is something so comforting about this particular landscape.

here is calm so deep, grasses cease waving...wonderful how completely everything in wild nature fits into us, as if truly part and parent of us. the sun shines not on us, but in us. the rivers flow not past, but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing... -muir

last summer's lacy remains of mule ear.

the woman who led the walk also gathers seeds for a native plant nursery in sactown. i pour over native plants for garden books, dreaming of these shrubs, grasses, trees, and flowers replacing the sterile green lawns where i live.....the movement is growing. imagine creating a native environment where the land has been paved over, and inviting all that once was to return.

a favorite childhood snack, manzanita blossoms. they seem to come earlier and earlier.

the "loop," at my folks. i've been up there a lot lately. my dad is an expert manzanita groomer.

bonny and spencer join me.

this photo does not quite capture his speed... :)

my momma's socks.   great poem title?  ;p

the kids, like squirrels, were smashing walnuts in the driveway and hoarding the meats. my mom is trying to get in on the cache.

i love the sweet granny scent of the violet, another early friend that gets you excited about the sunshine.

tyler has been working soooooo hard on these shelves.... can't wait to post a finished pic, after i've arraigned our books. it's quite wonderful to be paired with such a handy, capable dude.

...especially when he does things like this.....

"all about china" home school co-op. getting ready for new year! i think i waffle daily about teddy's "schooling" options, and for all of the reasons that i have to home school him.

the new growth of the willow is red, a choice material for colorful woven baskets.

our "swamp." linky is now scooting along the furniture. he'll be walking so soon.

these buckeye buds are getting swollen! this tree will soon be covered in bright green hands.

black fluted..something? i don't remember, but i like it's mossy bed.

tyler and his new juicer. i told him we already had a juicer. (see right of new juicer.) we like our green drinks.

last sunday tyler took us on a sunday drive.

to a strange little place called sutter buttes. they consist of the smallest mountain range in the world. (local claim???)

they are grassy and rolling, and completely inaccessible. ranch moguls guard the hills with armed lackeys. the land has been in the family for centuries.... property is theft, right?

tyler is reading a book on john sutter so he filled us in with the political and historical deets. it was a lovely drive. we hope to hike them someday. you can pay a private group to scale them, OR you can bring a twenty and hope the ranch hand isn't trigger happy.

what they look like from a distance.

 and here is a series of photos of what mornings are like for a sleepy 24 year old.....who also has a wriggly, slappy, bitey gloppy in her bed. i know he's little for a short time.........but that doesn't make me miss sleeping through the night any less. he's a pretty vigorous nurser if you know what i mean.

the fog rolled in, my kind of lady. it hangs around in the northern central valley town in which i reside, but it is a rare treat in the footfills, where i have been often frequenting. (road to my parent's hosue.)

miwok talking rock. there are holes bored in a pattern up the 10ft rock, acting as an ancient calender. it just sits in a meadow, near where i grew up. i might be the only folk who visits it these days. (a little mullein in the foreground.)

a creek that flows near renee's house, past the talking rock, flowing down the 60ft waterfall that can be seen from my parent's deck.

: when the fog lifts.

renee's workshop. for realz. she is a seasoned fiber crafter: she raises sheep, spins the wool, knits, weaves, etc.. i spend time with her, learning the old skills. right now we are sorting fibers for the sac weaver's guild open house.

renee is almost 87. she was liberated from Auschwitz as a youth. she is truly a treasure...i am grateful that she is passing her skills on to me, as well as her tales. she tells me that the pattern to this shawl was a "complete and total bitch." true story.

we sort the fibers by the sheep from whence they originated: this batting is from beatrice, this yarn is from cormo, etc. shearing takes place on the first saturday in march.

fun, fun, woolen things.

silk and merino yarn, double twined. so soft.

love her sweet woven rug.

beginning to weave a dishtowel.

AND NOW I THINK I AM ALL CAUGHT UP!!!!!!!!! my time to just sit and post is extremely limited, for now. :)




xoxoxoxoxo


happy growing chilly sunny daffodill season for all y'all's!