this time of year

autumn is never the same two years in a row.  
some years it is early with frost near labor day
other years it is warm well into fall
this year it has been mixed cool nights, warm days and heavy morning fog
the transition this morning from  thick fog to sunlight~

space in my life

The nest is wonderful space.  

Hard to believe two children didn't like or want to use this playhouse.

That is how we got this nifty building.  

A friend's 2 kids did not see the magic. Can you believe  that?  That was 12 years ago.  

At the time I felt funny accepting this most incredible gift.  

When was the last time someone you hardly knew gave you a building

and brought it over and installed it?   

~

I absolutely love this little space although I do not use it as much 

since the yurt and the dome come into my life.

I try to visit each of these spaces each day a little ritual, a little honoring.

All of my spare space is rather remarkable and each is different.  

God has blessed me with muchness and I am grateful.  

~

It seems excessive which is why I try to share it with others.  

What I find perplexing is that so few take up the offer to share.  

Maybe there are lessons and messages in this --

one being many do not feel comfortable without amenities 

and many do feel the magic of being close to nature?    Perhaps I am wrong.

inherited gardens

In losing our yurt tenant, we have inherited her gardens.  

My choices are to let them go completely or to change them 

so they are low maintenance.  

I have decided on the latter.  

Ordered up a batch of dafs that naturalize 

and will pop them in along with seeds for some wildflowers.  

Same with the bed down closer to the yurt, 

add some bulbs and some shade happy perennials that can take over.  

I am not going to weed more beds.  

This shall work out well, give us  spring and summer color with minimal work.  

It will not be a cared for bed nor should it be sitting there in the midst of nowhere. 

 Once we finish repairs on the yurt, we can serious look for a guest, 

then the gardens will have their new caretaker.

LATER
Went up with manure and a rake so bed improved.  
Then spend a couple of hours putting in 300 dafs.  
We shall see how full the bed looks come fall.
Next step is to add some wildflower seeds for the post daf season.

stormy skies

Returning from camping in VT where it was raining

 to Maine where it was clear, 

 we stopped in NH to eat some left over stew along side of the train

 near the AMC building

south of Bretton Woods. 

You can see where I was looking west

then looking east to where it was clear.

out walking and shooting

naming

I like words and believe they are important.  

Is it crazy to enjoy naming things, animals, buildings, land,  house, dogs, goats ?

You name it, I like to name it.   

Right now I am working on a name for my bedroom.  

Rightio that is my bedroom now downstairs, ground level basement.  

Cozy it is and decorated in my usual laid back decor.  

I spend many hours, menopausal hours, awake contemplating the world, 

my life, the universe, yada yada so it is kind of spiritual and kind of a getaway 

and more 

thus a fitting (easy to remember) name seems fitting. 

Our gifted little building out in the field, the playhouse is The Nest, 
 it fit and was easy. The yurt is still after years in the works and may just be what it is.

For whatever reason this bedroom name has not flowed or been easy.  

Abode, Sanctuary, den, cave,  my place all not fitting. 

I have woken up at night  and pondered.  

I an almost on "Mew".  Nice old word which means a secret place or hideaway. 
 It works also and because I sleep with two cats most nights and tada what do cats say? 
Or it could be the Cat House..... 

Well Mew is sitting well with me and may be it.  I shall sit with it a wee tad longer to see.  

Physically, and spiritually, like all of life, this is a space and a name in progress 

and may be subject to change.

Isn't it exciting when it all comes together.  Like an aha moment..

Mew has not been exactly aha, but  really really close.... 

~

Woke up last night with "snug" in my head.  Another fine word.

So many choices none wrong......

overloading on positive

Right now, in my life there seems to be happening a great deal of

good stuff and positive vibes

 so much so it is mind boggling.  Why?  

I believe it is because 

I am working harder to put good stuff and positive vibes out there 

and it comes right back to me in other forms. 

 The more I accept life as good, people as good, the more it is good. 

How simple is that?  

Obviously not all that simple or I would have been doing this all my life

 instead of mooing  and grumping, instead of fighting the river.

  

There are two ways of looking at life, full glass or empty glass. 

 Liking the full glass a great deal ~

 so  I shall try to continue to remember 

that the glass is as full as I allow it to be.  

This morning I was given rain and rainbows. 

 RAINBOWS right there in the pouring rain!

Let there be kindness

I received a gift today that was special and simple.  It said volumns.  

What do we want in life?  We want to know others are out there for us.  

Too often we feel alone, unloved, unwanted.  We are not,

 but sometimes it helps to be reminded that someone cares 

and is thinking of us......

no money spent other than a stamp, some time and some thoughtfulness...

from my sister Ceci in the mail today, a kindness that made my day in a big way.

the kids

We do not own big dogs.  

We own a giant breed Great Danes. 

 I live with them 24/7 so I forget that others find them big as in BIG.  They can be overwhelming even to us, but overall they are GENTLE giants and silly dogs.  

6000 pictures

My computer, my faithful 10 year old laptop with minimal memory decided

 not to run CD/DVDs so I decided it was time to think

of a realistic replacement....something slightly better 

with more speed and more memory 

so I didn't have to worry about my computer gagging on pictures or programs.  

Mac was a thought but then I have to start all over again

 and that as tempting as it was got ruled out.  

There are so many choices and none wrong.  I finally told Tim to help me decide.  Unknown to me he hit staples and bought me an inexpensive dell 

with lots of memory and a mouse and keyboard with strings.  

Those had to go but so far Dell has been good.  

Like all transitions, we had some change pains.  

About a full 24 hours of wondering if this was a good idea or a really bad dream.  

It is now coming together with programs recognizing each other. 

 Pictures are still a bit of a nightmare which I can not cope with until I am feeling strong.  I really need a good software program for photography  and haven't found that as yet so.....

and my office software has not arrived so my desk is full of two computers 

with competing mice.....

it is good it has been raining as it ties me to the computer fix.


Well computer woke up this am sort of....no pic on monitor, any monitor.  
Not good ----so computor going to the ER at staples....OUCH
don't we love technology?  NOT

The saga continues.....word is that the patient is all rightl  It was not a deadly disease.

changes

Today was the start of change day.  

I smudged the yurt and that is a story unto itself.  

Having done that I started with the underneath, raking leaves finding misc treasures, ours and Jordan's. 

After 4 hours of  Hot and steamy I came come home to an invite to do Pie a la mode at Apples Acres.  Off we went for "lunch".  Yum.    

We walked over later together with the dogs to evaluate what stays, what gets trashed, what gets added.  

I have washed all the linens and will take them back tomorrow. 

Early on I cleaned the green slime off the propane tank. That was nasty and makes the biggest difference.  How silly that the propane clean up meant so much to me but it did.

Parts of the deck will need replacing.  

I took apart a little garden at the foot of the steps.  It was not happening and almost painful. Another garden on the other side needs some TLC and plants may go where the annuals were pulled out. Or maybe wildflower seeds.  

Love the rocks under the yurt and the plantings  --- 

some of the plantings work, some do not.  

Rebuilt a part of the stone where it had collapsed.  I have raked a million leaves out from under, brought some things to be trashed from underneath. 

Not sure on the desk, and assorted of the roughly built additions, the shelves, the saw horses.  They will probably be re-homed or trashed.

Need a new step for the outhouse.  

Tim has taken the wood and cut it for firewood. 

Trimmed some branches over the outhouse and will clean the roof when a vent is added.  

We need to clean the vinyl.  

This is the bestest space and needs a little TLC so others can feel the wonder 

of this circular space.  Overall not much needs to be done.  

Need to take a deep breathe, stand back, and after letting it tell us, 

pull it together in a good way.