XXXIV 
(You are the daughter of the sea)
by Pablo Neruda

You are the daughter of the sea, oregano's first cousin.
Swimmer, your body is pure as the water;
cook, your blood is quick as the soil.
Everything you do is full of flowers, rich with the earth.

Your eyes go out toward the water, and the waves rise; your hands go out to the earth and the seeds swell; you know the deep essence of water and the earth, conjoined in you like a formula for clay.

Naiad: cut your body into turquoise pieces,
they will bloom resurrected in the kitchen.
This is how you become everything that lives.

And so at last, you sleep, in the circle of my arms
that push back the shadows so that you can rest--
vegetables, seaweed, herbs: the foam of your dreams.

Long time no post! I miss my little journal! Working on uploading some of the past months...love to all!

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good things

And...it's already April. Here are some snaps of the sweetest things of the past couple months..spring is wonderful.

eggs from a dear friend's chickens 

my parents visiting and being "scientists"

happy fellows!

swing sittin'

wide open spaces

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st. patricks.

It's been a tough week because of a loss in our family..our precious Ichabod passed away. I'm sending hugs to all my family and missing Icky tons. We will never forget him. Today is St. Patrick's so here's an Irish blessing to get in the spirit and to remind ourselves how blessed we were to have Icky as a part of our family.

May you always be blessed
With walls for the wind
A roof for the rain
A warm cup of tea by the fire
Laughter to cheer you
Those you love near you
And all that your heart might desire

IRISH BLESSING

hip hip gin gin

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easy truths

Couldn't agree more!

 via http://mianolting.com/

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We expect so much of spring. And though it comes slowly, it always fills me with an optimism for spring cleaning, new projects and the like. We've been busy bees and recently got the chance to spend a weekend in Seattle visiting Natalie's darling parents. I'll post some photos soon. In the meantime here are some snapshots of our emerging spring in Eastern Washington. I've got great big plans for my own garden here--asparagus, strawberries, spinach, onions, herbs and definitely lavender. Any suggestions or tips? 

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poachy poach poached

I've been trying to learn how to poach my eggs with just boiling water. Any tips? Just stumbled across this..might give it a try!

foodess

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happy valentines

For your Valentine's a quote from one of my favorite books. "A History of Love" by Nicole Krauss...

“The first language humans had was gestures. There was nothing primitive about this language that flowed from people’s hands, nothing we say now that could not be said in the endless array of movements possible with the fine bones of the fingers and wrists. The gestures were complex and subtle, involving a delicacy of motion that has since been lost completely.

During the Age of Silence, people communicated more, not less. Basic survival demanded that the hands were almost never still, and so it was only during sleep (and sometimes not even then) that people were not saying something or other. No distinction was made between the gestures of language and the gestures of life. The labor of building a house, say, or preparing a meal was no less an expression than making the sign for I love you or I feel serious. When a hand was used to shield one’s face when frightened by a loud noise something was being said, and when fingers were used to pick up what someone else had dropped something was being said; and even when the hands were at rest, that, too, was saying something. Naturally, there were misunderstandings. There were times when a finger might have been lifted to scratch a nose, and if casual eye contact was made with one’s lover just then, the lover might accidentally take it to be the gesture, not at all dissimilar, for now I realize I was wrong to love you. These mistakes were heartbreaking. And yet, because people knew how easily they could happen, because they didn’t go round with the illusion that they understood perfectly the things other people said, they were used to interrupting each other to ask if they’d understood correctly. Sometimes these misunderstandings were even desirable, since they gave people a reason to say, Forgive me, I was only scratching my nose. Of course I know I’ve always been right to love you. Because of the frequency of these mistakes, over time the gesture for asking forgiveness evolved into the simplest form. Just to open your palm was to say: forgive me.

If at large gatherings or parties, or around people with whom you feel distant, your hands sometimes hang awkwardly at the ends of your arms – if you find yourself at a loss for what to do with them, overcome with sadness that comes when you recognize the foreignness of your own body – it’s because your hands remember a time when the division between mind and body, brain and heart, what’s inside and what’s outside, was so much less. It’s not that we’ve forgotten the language of gestures entirely. The habit of moving our hands while we speak is left over from it. Clapping, pointing, giving the thumbs-up, for example, is a way to remember how it feels to say nothing together. And at night, when it’s too dark to see, we find it necessary to gesture on each other’s bodies to make ourselves understood.”

A History of Love

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grapefruit cake

I really need to make this...asap.




  


http://casayellow.com/a-grapefruit-olive-oil-cake-for-a-cold-winter-day/

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Steinbeck on love

via Cup of Jo

New York 

November 10, 1958 

Dear Thom:

We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.

First -- if you are in love -- that's a good thing -- that's about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don't let anyone make it small or light to you.

Second -- There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you -- of kindness and consideration and respect -- not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn't know you had. 

You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply -- of course it isn't puppy love.

But I don't think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it -- and that I can tell you.

Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.

The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.

If you love someone -- there is no possible harm in saying so -- only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.

Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.

It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another -- but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.

Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I'm glad you have it.

We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too and maybe she can give you more help than I can.

And don't worry about losing. If it is right, it happens -- The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.

Love,

Fa

via The Atlantic 

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meep meep

Still here! As usual in the moving process we've been busy with the hustle and bustle of a new environment. New house, new friends, new jobs! All exciting and lovely adventures. 2011 has been quite the year and I'm eager to see what 2012 will bring. Tonight I took some time to slow down and be cozy by making squash soup. Updates and pictures to come! In the meantime..love and happiness to everyone! 

frommetoyou

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