"The time when dog-tooth violetsHold up inverted horns of gold,--The elvish cups that Spring upsetsWith dripping feet, when April wetsThe sun-and-shadow-marbled wold,-- Is come. And by each leafing wayThe sorrel drops pale blots of pink;And, like an angled star a faySets on her forehead's pallid day,The blossoms of the trillium wink. Within the vale, by rock and stream,--A fragile, fairy ...
Words to Live by
Web of Inspiration
"The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web." ~Pablo Picasso ...
Thoreau on Winter
"We sleep, and at length awake to the still reality of a winter morning. The snow lies warm as cotton or down upon the window-sill; the broadened sash and frosted panes admit a dim and private light, which enhances the snug cheer within. The stillness of the morning is impressive... From the eaves and fences hang stalactites of snow, and in the yard stand stalagmites covering ...
Summer Solstice
In honor of the Summer Solstice today, I thought I'd share a fairy passage from William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream": Over hill, over dale, Thorough bush, thorough briar, Over park, over pale, Thorough flood, thorough fire, I do wander everywhere, Swifter than the moon's sphere; And I serve the fairy queen, To dew her orbs upon the green. The cowslips tall her pensioners be; In their ...
A Gardening Song for Living on the Earth
Today is the 40th Birthday of Alicia Bay Laurel's artistic homesteading manual, Living on the Earth. So many of my childhood homesteading dreams were fueled by my parents copy of this wonderful book that I was delighted to discover an accompanying folk album she recorded called Music for Living on the Earth. It's an earthy collection of songs about waking up early, going ...
When the World is Mud-Luscious
in Just- in Just- spring when the world is mud- luscious the little lame baloonman whistles far and wee and eddieandbill come running from marbles and piracies and it's spring when the ...
To an Early Daffodil
To an Early Daffodil Thou yellow trumpeter of laggard Spring!Thou herald of rich Summer's myriad flowers!The climbing sun with new recovered powers Does warm thee into being, through the ringOf rich, brown earth he woos thee, makes thee flingThy green shoots up, inheriting the dowersOf bending sky and sudden, sweeping showers, Till ripe and blossoming thou art a thingTo make all nature glad, ...
Red Zeppelin
I had already planted a bed of red storage onions, but how could I NOT get a bundle of these with such a name? I planted the Red Zeppelin onions in their very own raised bed, and look forward to some rockin' recipes this summer! In honor of these onions, all the rain we've been getting lately, and a band I have enjoyed listening to many a time, here are the words to one of my ...
I Am a Nurse Log
I Am a Nurse Log "I am a young seed − Air, water, soil and light areWhat I need − If I’m going to grow up right, ohYes indeed − All of this is within sight But all the competition down on the forest floorReally has me wishin’ for something to give me more I need a NURSE LOG, I need a NURSE LOGI need a NURSE LOG, I need a NURSE LOGNurse Log lifts me up − And never lets me down. I am an old tree ...
To a Snowdrop
To a Snowdrop Lone Flower, hemmed in with snows and white as they But hardier far, once more I see thee bend Thy forehead, as if fearful to offend, Like an unbidden guest. Though day by day, Storms, sallying from the mountain-tops, waylay The rising sun, and on the plains descend; Yet art thou welcome, welcome as a friend Whose zeal outruns his promise! Blue-eyed May Shall soon behold this ...