wind

At night I imagine we're in an airplane, or a submarine, on a desert, or in the Arctic. The wind moves against the house like a real presence, with an eerie, lonely, growl. The ghost of winter cometh, visiting for days, waking us in the nights. Like a sad dog.

Whiskey & Mo got their annual shots today. D got the vet to clip W's nails, as we had tried with no luck. He was very difficult apparently... and our vet said it's obvious he was hit when he was a puppy. Usually it's hard for her to tell but with Whisk she can say that for sure (he would flinch back whenever she moved her arm). It made me so sad to hear this, I almost cried. But at least now we have him and we love him sooo muchhh.

storm watch

Delaying my Toronto visit until the storm passes. It's coming tonight, all wind and snow, slashing it's way from the states up to us. They see it coming in photos of the sky, and the news is whispered in our collective ear: warning!

I was prepared to narrow my brows, harden my shoulders, and plow my way through... but danger is danger. The warnings sound real enough I shall surrender to the dark clouds to the South, and wait, and watch it blow by through the window, tea in hand. Or maybe I will go out in it and feel the winter's kiss, hair swirling, eyelashes frozen.

just a temperature adjust

Once the chill cools over, time freezes. We move slowly, bundled, shuffling, from a warm room... and quickly back again. Unless the fire's on then we can stay by it. Late November's only the tip of the iceberg.

Turn on the car a few minutes before the drive to get the heat blowing. Tidy the yard now cos the snow's coming. Leave the dog in the house when at the pool cos he's sleeping. D. brings tea in the morning but I'm still sleepingggggg.

Bodies quiet and harden, fragile in the dark mornings and dark evenings. Only a long hot bath, or a long warm phone call, or a long good movie, can really lighten and soften. The sun now more for mind than skin. Our sunny dispositions still beaming at least. Lots of singing. Always ridiculous songs to each other. Dances too. Love makes my winter shine.

Focus: sweaters, flannel, socks, scarves, slippers.
Essential oils: cinnamon leaf & sweet orange.

fall seeds

We planted the garlic today, this beautiful November fall day, in short-sleeves. About 200 cloves of our own seed (music and german red). Also planted a couple rows of daikon radish as an experiment. The new garden is starting to shape up... the soil is lovely and I'm already anxious for 2010 seed catalogues to arrive!

Also spent a bit of the day cleaning up and organising boxes of seed and the potting table in the basement. At the end of it all, I was inspired to start some herbs to grow indoors over the winter. Any extras I can unload onto friends and family (right Mom?). Started: savory, parsley, cumin, chamomile, basil, lemongrass, rosemary, thyme, and... sensitive plants, for fun. That should tide me over for awhile.

Kale chips are tasty! Cut washed leaves off stems, rub with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and nutritional yeast, and dehydrate for 4hrs. Good way to get your greens in.

Also, D is cool. He needs a table, he builds a table. Now I hear him downstairs organising screws and nails.

woman's work

The tiller has landed. A nice mid-tine honda... and I had no idea how to work it. The rental guy dropped it off while we were out so I missed whatever tips he could give me. An hour in and I decided it was a waste of money as I was simply not strong enough to get the job done. The thing pulled my 125-pound self around the field no matter how much I tried to hold it back, to get it to dig down. What else does one do in these situations than... call Dad.

Dad's tip was to use the depth bar. OHHHHHHH, that thing that's sticking out the back? So out I went again, set the bar low, jabbed it down into the ground and voila... it held the thing back and made it dig in. I felt like I had just tamed a wild horse.

About half way done in this photo, after doing a bit more this morning. It's miraculously sunny now, and I just finished breakfast and a little coffee... so back out I go. I think I'll divide the 30x30'-ish plot into four quadrants.