Sunlight And Abundance At The Williamson Ranch
(The Antidote to "The Hotel" and the Unfortunate dreams I had last night.)
This is Ozark, the true king of the ranch. If you try to burgle or torment us here, he will probably kill you. He might actually try to kill you anyway even though you've come with beer. We're always really embarrassed when that happens.
This is Chick. She doesn't know yet that she can kill a burglar because she's too busy trying to get Ozark to play with her, which results in him trying to kill her. (Wait, this post was supposed to be all sweetness and light, how did all this "killing" talk get in?) I'm beginning to suspect that my wonderful dog has a fascination with pain. I'm uncomfortable with that.
The roses here are amazing. Truly abundant, bursting with life affirming colors and fresh buds every week. This region is a rose paradise! I have plans to expand my rose collection to twice it's current size. (I'm not sure I've told Philip this yet...it's lucky he loves roses too!) (You can't see them here, but we currently have at least thirty roses.)
This butternut squash probably wouldn't win any "pretty" awards at the state fair, but this is the first time I've grown one that got bigger than a peanut. I'm guessing this one is at least three pounds. Butternut is one of my favorite squashes, so I'm really looking forward to making this one into Thai soup or butternut soup with sage and roasted garlic. Or we could just bake it and eat it with butter and garlic...isn't it beautiful?
I didn't plant my Dahlias until absolutely the very last possible moment because of having been busy moving in and all, but they are beginning to bloom and I'm totally in love with them. I would like to have a sea of them next year. Have you noticed a theme with me? "If a few are good, then it would be better to have as many as possible!!" This philosophy extends to my approach to beer and tomatoes too.
The sungolds are, as usual, fabulous. Last night I ate one that, I swear, tasted exactly like a sun warmed blackberry. I didn't get many big tomatoes this year, but the little ones keep filling up the colander.
There are two kinds of pears on our tree. I don't know what either kind is, but these green ones were mostly left alone by whatever scourge devoured the other kind. Each one has a carefully excavated worm hole which could impact the ripening process, but might not. I tried a ripe one and they're pretty tasty. Next year, after we've sprayed the tree with dormant oil and pruned it and set out traps for the moths, we just might have so many pears I will be forced to can them. And eat them every day. Fruit trees kick ass. Why plant a vinyard when you can plant an orchard? I mean, look at that sea of pears! Doesn't it make you feel like you could survive for weeks on that bounty?There, isn't that better? Don't all those pictures of beauty and abundance kind of wipe out the memory of the horrors of the last post? I have been having nightmares like that one for almost as long as I can remember and they tend to stick with me for long after I have woken up. It's not surprising, I think, that I have found such pleasure and comfort from the light, color, and productiveness of my garden. The only nightmares that exist in it are of the insect persuasion and aside from the occasional attack of a potato bug which sends me shrieking and hopping to the nearest police station, the garden is wonderfully peaceful. I think the UV rays diminish evil powers.
I'd like to mention here for those people who suffer chronic insomnia (I did, for as long as I can remember) the only cure I have found for it is having a child. That's right...one of the most unexpected benefits, both of pregnancy and parenting, is that you will never again feel like you can possibly get enough sleep. They wear you down so much, so thoroughly, that the only thing that can keep you from drifting effortlessly off to sleep at 8pm is a natural disaster. The only periods of time when my insomnia has returned (full force) was for about three weeks after we had an earthquake, and then again for a few weeks after we had a house fire and had to live with my mother for five months. I probably still experience more sleepless nights than the average person, but this is nothing compared to the weeks and weeks I used to often have to survive through with no more than ten total hours of sleep. This can make a person literally go crazy and eventually die...for a person who's already crazy, that's just bad news.
Well, I must be off now. I have a date with Headless Helen (my dress form) to play with the fit of a new shirt I've made. I'm winging it which is pretty novel for me. Inspired by the wonderful clothes the ladies at "Amour Sans Anguish" make from used clothes. (I'm used to making clothes from a planned out, perfected pattern (either mine, or someone elses). The thought of taking an already constructed garment and re-shaping it with new seams and details is terrifying because how can you know if it will turn out? What if you make the wrong cut? So I'm going to take my pins and scissors and see what I can make of a shirt I made that doesn't fit quite right. Wish me luck!