Judgement

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Our life has been somewhat exciting, although The Fox played far too often in our home last week. All of us can sing it now (minus Mr.C who doesn’t sing). We had a busy weekend, with both Joe and I going to workshops and traveling down to my parents on Sunday. All of my siblings and their families were together for the first time in two years. That was fun.

I had a thought while we were doing an activity at the workshop I went to. (The workshop was on permaculture, and what follow is mostly unrelated.) I started doing it and noticed a huge change in the way I thought about everything. Basically, I decided to stop passing judgement, but simply observe. Even if I do decide something, I assign it to myself. So I see someone. I can think, She is fat and ugly.  This would be judging, and not a very nice one at that. Instead I could think She is a larger person and I don’t like the way it looks. Not a big shift, but it no longer blames other people or things for my own opinions. I can even do it with myself from, I am a horrible person for yelling at my kids, to I yelled at my kids. It made both my kids and me sad.  Which one is actually going to help me stop?

It certainly isn’t limited to bad judgement either. How many time do I look at something good or beautiful and instead of rejoicing in it, become a bit envious? Her house is beautiful…..often leads to thinking that my house isn’t. But Her house was clean and she had artwork up that I liked is not only hard to lead to envious thinking but is a far better compliment. I’ve heard similar opinions on complimenting our children. I don’t say they are smart or beautiful or that craft looks nice. I say they tried hard, they are clean, and that picture has a lot of purple on it.   Just something to think about, and for me, something to work on.

Native Plant Garden

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I came across a couple native plant gardens, while wandering around up on the USU campus. Fun to fine, when on college campuses there tends to be a lot of lawn and mass plantings (necessary for the large-scale nature of the landscape, but still a bit boring).

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Chocolate flower (Berlandiera lyrata)…the smell is far better than the appearance, and this one even looks quite nice. 

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 path
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Here is a fun fall combo, rabbit brush,(Chrysothamnus nauseosus) desert 4 o’clock (Mirabilis multiflora), and sunset hyssop (Agastache rupestris). 
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Rabbit brush,(Chrysothamnus nauseosus) and Zauschneria (Epilobium canum….or Zauschneria latifolia if you don’t care about botanical name changes.)

 

Marshmallows

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mallows

This is my explorer. He climbed up onto the counters, into the cupboards and foraged his breakfast while mommy got ready. His choice of jumbo marshmallows didn’t fly. Mommy moved them into a different cupboard. Undeterred, he moved the stool, climbed up and got them again. There were many tears when the marshmallows were firmly put away in the highest cupboard and he was offered cereal for breakfast.

 

The Problem is the Solution

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I recently went to a Permaculture workshop up at USU  It was excellent. If you ever have a chance to hear Joel Glanzberg, don’t miss it. One of the principles we talked about was that the problem is the solution. Here’s two writer who did just that: a gardener started eating the weeds growing in her vegetable garden, and a native-plant enthusiast  used her “weedy” driveway as a plant nursery.

Other ways to turn the problem into the solution? Here are a few:

  • Use fall leaves as mulch. (Or drop them off at my house. It is beyond me why anyone would willingly get rid of their leaves….it is the best form of free mulch.)
  • Let the clover grow and provide free fertilizer in the lawn
  • Feed grasshoppers to chicken or other animals
  • Use the death of a plant to plant something better
  • Put kitchen gardens close to the house or in the front yard
  • Use unique native or adapted plants for hard-to-grow areas

Waiting

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waiting

My brother came home off his mission. This is PB waiting at the airport. Did I actually bother to get a picture of my brother? No. Sometimes I am enjoying things too much to remember to take pictures.

Hiking

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HIking

I love hiking with little people. We probably made it only a half mile, but the kids point out many things I would fail to notice: imaginary snakes, acorns, ants, small waterfalls. Some of the leaves were even beginning to lose their green.

Garden Update

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garden k

The garden is winding down. Here is a quick rundown:

Best Plant: Giant sunflowers. Planted as an afterthought, these guys did great.
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Most Disappointing Plant: Blue Hubbard squash. They died midway through the season. The strawberries also never did well, but I didn’t expect much out of them.

Biggest Mistake: The tomatoes supports. The plants are floppy. The method is good, just didn’t keep up with it enough.

Unused Crop: Cabbages and chard. Apparently we don’t really eat either.

Best Idea: Planting sunflowers in with the vining crops. Although some out competed their companions.

No-shows: I seeded in a bunch of flowers and herbs. One flower came up a couple months late.
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New crop: Cabbages. A lot of pests eat cabbages, and I don’t. Probably not a repeat.

Early Harvest: The beans surprised me with how quickly they produced a good harvest. I seeded them in after the peas finished.

Most Delicious: Fresh, ripe cantaloupe.

I have just a small patch of potatoes to dig, the tomatoes are still producing, but that’s about it. Not a bad year.

Kids

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When PB hears a new word, he doesn’t always get it right. The carnival was a carnivore. He wanted me to turn the shovel off of his music. 

He is often frustrated because he wants to do things but can’t always figure it out. One day we had a good half hour of tears because he couldn’t cut out animal pictures. When he does do something challenging, he breaks into a big grin saying, “Mommy I can do it now.” His accomplishments he is proud of include drawing a square and rectangle, getting dressed by himself, and finally cutting out a picture. 

Here is a video of my wild children.