the belly chronicles

willa

Back to California for a spell, since we have a bit of catching up to do. The children and I had a week and half on the road, which was wonderful, fun-filled, and very, very busy. So I'd suggest the next time you take your kids on the road, add a Willa to your packing list. She's a farm girl, so she's practical, resourceful, and cheerful even in adversity. It helps that the children are in love with her.

She watched while some wild boys threw Isaiah into a big hole they dug. (He doesn't seem to mind, does he?)

She worried with me when Nature Boy and aforementioned boys climbed way up high.

She definitely hung with Miel, who remembers her friend with her whole body and spirit.

And the good thing is, after a bunch of days on the road with us, I bet Willa won't be pining for her little ones for many months to come. She got her fill (and then some)!

fairy princess

The earth goes round the sun, tra-la, the earth goes round the sun.
She was born into warm water and loving arms.
She celebrated her first birthday living on the farm in a yurt.
She celebrated her second birthday with a beach party at Seabrook Island.
She celebrated her third birthday as a fairy princess of Silver Creek in Minnesota.
Where will she spend her fourth???

She fills our house with love and sweetness and fire. We call her Honeydrop and Jalapeno Jelly. Meli, Miel Fay, and sometimes she prefers Fay. Never Mel, though, she's instructed us.

Such a wonder, still a bundle, and even occasionally a handful. We love her!

got it going on

Welcome to Windy Hollow Farm. Coastal Mendocino family living. Our friends Ben and Jen are cheerful, relaxed, hardworking, deep thinking . . . and have co-created this farm/homestead with the 2 generations on either side of them. Every time we visit there's something new to see.

First, they live in a castle. How cool is that? It's hard to see from my pictures but they have many fields and gardens . . . flowers and herbs surround them.

Here's the little guest cabin we stayed in. Built by Ben's father, it has all the comforts you need: 2 floors of beds, wood stove, cozy down bedding, an array of books for all ages, hooks in all the right places, a cooler of warm water for washing up and even a chamber pot. Seriously, what better way to recover from 4 late nights dancing and playing ping-pong in the barn than by cozying up here, napping and going to sleep with the children?

Not only is she a rad farmer, business woman, and spontaneous cookie baker, she's also got farm stylish down. Always.

If you're planning a Mendocino wedding or other festive gathering, she and Shauna from OZ Farm will dazzle your tables with Coastal Posies flowers. And you have the chance to study with them and a host of other sweet Point Arena teachers amid the rustic luxuries of OZ Farm at their Seeds to Salve retreat weekend in September.

Jen and I have had many conversations about "wildness" in children. In our culture, it seems to be a pejorative."Stop being so wild." "Their kids are so wild." "She just lets them run wild."

It's funny. I wrote about this in one of my first posts when we returned to Blue Lake from the farm. Now that we're here in Minnesota, we're living a very unwild life. Yes, we're outside all the time. Yes, we even can wander in the creek and some woods. Still much of our time is at the playground, skate park (more on that another day), and pool.

On these rambling acres where the wind and hills feel wild, it's easy for me to see why I would want to encourage this wildness in my children. It's more of a discipline of intention and consciousness when you're living the in-town life. And, of course, we'll keep visiting these friends and all the new and familiar wild places still left to discover.

return again, return again, return to the land of your home

Of course we brought some of sweet Belly with us to California. Her ties to Minnesota were not deep.

Several West coast beaches and rivers called her spirit home to them. Many highlights of our trip were when we took a small jar of ashes from the larger one we traveled with to her favorite spots, sending her prayers, singing her home.

We love you, Boo.

rosie

For some reason, Typepad would not allow me to put Rosie on a page with the other pictures. She just needs to stand alone, I guess? What Supper Club would be complete without her, though? I mean, really?

California dreamin'

Yup, we're back from an epic summer vacation, bookended by OZ farm festivities and my 16th Soup. I have plenty of scenery and fun to share over the next few days. Before we head off on yet another vacation to Chicago. (I know, it's tough, but someone's got to do it, right?)

It was a delight to be back where it still feels like home. Family, friends, cool fog and dry heat.

For now we're reveling in strawberry picking, swimming pool splashing, and the lushness of midwestern summer. Blink and it'll be over. We're not blinking.

Back at OZ Farm, our rustic home away from home (and even our home when the children were babes), our wedding site, Belly's first roadtrip destination and definitely her very favorite place.

Birthday boy at the 40s supper club. Did I mention this was JimboFest? He really doesn't do anything halfway. I'm lucky he's my Big Bro'. :)

No more asking, "Is Bronwyn a boy or a girl?" We definitely know who BB Rose is now!

Mama returned from this trip--and the bliss of 3 days solo at The Soup--cheerful, content, stoked up, yet somehow very hardlined and even intolerant with the kiddies. Maybe it the week-and-a-half traveling with them? Maybe it was the time away? I'm not sure, but there's a new regime in town. It seems to involve a fair amount of yelling and door slamming. I know, how could I yell at this cherub? I ask myself every day. I just don't want to be called a "poop head" one more time. Hmmm . . . I'll report back.

spring goodness

We're leaving summer for a bit and heading to California, so it will be quiet around here...again...for a few weeks. Sorry to have neglected you. My camera charger disappeared in the move, and it took me 'till the day before our trip to spring for a new one as I unpacked and searched and organized and still didn't find the old one.

Before we go, I want to share some images of the abundant spring here. I had a dream the other night that it snowed. I was asking, "What? That's it? Winter again, just like that?" People tell me I'm not so far off the mark, so we're enjoying every minute of gorgeousness, eating our meals outside, harvesting nettles and herbs, planting seeds, riding our bikes, heading to the skate park.

fairy houses

gathering for dandelion wine and fritters

mmmm...now there's a good reason to fill the yard with dandelions

And we're off, bearing gifts and anticipation...

play ball!

His first sentence: "Go, Crabs, go!"

Isaiah has been waiting these 3 years for this moment . . . his very own baseball team. We've been avid fans of the Humboldt Crabs, the Charleston Riverdogs, and 2 weeks before opening day he's already calling the Rochester Honkers his favorite team, but T-Ball at the Y is his shining moment for now.

From the coaches' first instructions to the batting, running, and catching drills to the all-hands "T-Ball!" cheer at the end, all-American boy has found his spring passion.

(And if you look closely at the bottom picture, you'll see that his is the lower down denim cap in the center of the crush . . . I think we got a future denizen of the middle of group hugs on our hands.)

digging it

10 things I'm loving right now

Fuzzy, furry, spring green grass ::: Spring is truly a miracle after the long winter's sleep.

Salad! ::: Oh me, oh my, just like that the salad days are here!

Our new backyard swing and friends to fill it ::: We are in love with our new home.

Barbecue ::: especially our deluxe handbuilt outdoor entertainment center

Settling in ::: This house has near-perfect feng shui. Did you know this is our 9th move in the 8 years Steve and I have known each other? Can you even imagine? Our 4th since Isaiah was born. We're finally going through every scrap, figuring out what to keep and what to take to next weekend's rummage sale. No more 10 extra boxes of "stuff" languishing in the garage. (Deep sigh of uncluttered freedom)

Our creek ::: and all the mud that hides in its side channels

Unpacking ::: Nan's teacups, mom's platters, grandma's china, bro's lamps . . . my history in my kitchen

Meeting ::: our friendly neighbors . . . somehow we've landed in a neighborhood that feels a bit like Blue Lake. How did that happen??? We even have a chain link fence :) It's a modest neighborhood tucked between parks in the city. Neat and clean, but doesn't look like much from the street. Then you go out back to the woods and the creek and the neighbors share an appreciation of where they live. We really lucked into that!

Our very own nettle patch ::: nestled between the compost and the rhubarb. How happy am I?

Friends ::: near and far, to share the goodness.

things we'll miss