going outward

we do our living outside in the summertime.

there's the rose patio (it's surrounded by roses), right by the back door, where we play with games and science, create art, lunch and rest our lemonades

--and where sometimes we get out the fancy table linens for our dinner, put roses in bowls and put on Barbara, Nat King Cole, and Lena Horne.

there's the trampoline, 

where we lie in the sun in the springtime, and bounce (and explode) waterballoons, make chalk drawings, write stories, read stories.... and by the end of may we're launching from it as high as we can--and into the swimming pool.
there's the swingset, which even though now that the babes have grown the swings are low, houses great climbing opportunities, and regularly serves as a place to perch and share conversation with a friend.
there's the rope swing, right in the path, which is swung on at least a few times every single day.

 the pond... with a chair residing under the lilacs... which often serves perfectly as mama's place to listen to om music and read Hafiz.

theres's the covered patio... where we have speakers from inside, and a plug that serves for a laptop during the day or for christmas lights to light up the night.   
somehow this patio has become my domain... 

here i've read stories to my babies over the years... listened to secrets... watched Madeleine match letters, made meditation (prayer) beads, and sighed and have strung together thousands of words and thoughts about this life of ours.

so.... tending to these have been my (and sometimes our) life this last week.

 

 

the pond was emptied, rinsed, cleaned, patched, and refilled.  the green garden (what I call the area) planted and tended.
the covered patio was completely cleared
(i was wondering what any spying neighbors might think of these things strewn all over our back yard), cleaned, purged (threw out lots of broken tools and things), upholstery washed, the wicker scrubbed with soap and water, and the ivy curtain tended.

aside from the curtain of ivy being quite pleasing to me, it serves a purpose... it shades in the late afternoon to not only cool the patio, but block the sun from shining in one's eyes as she's writing the day's stories.  it has taken me three years to grow the ivy for this purpose, and I love it. sometimes in the evening i sit here on the patio and watch the birds flit and splash about the pond, and just stare in wonder--filling my eyes with those glowing green vines...

the medicine garden has been liberated, expanded, added to, fed.
and loved.  loved well.

and the roses.  which will be getting carrots or potatoes, soon.

"carrots or potatos with roses?"  oh, yes.  that's the way we do things around here--pumpkins in the faery garden, cucumbers next to the butterfly bush, strawberries next to the lavender.  keeps things interesting, don't you think?

the herb garden has been tended as well--trimmed, inspected, fed, and loved.

madeleine has staked her claim.

...and we're living.

going outward.

The Living

And so,

 

the Wild Rumpus continues.

wednesday

all of a sudden -er, again- i just 'had to'.
i needed frog ponds and dirt trails and greening things.
and the children said yes!

and then we went up the road a little ways.

...and the world has turned.
everywhere, blossoms.
everywhere, green.
spiders darting,
butterflies flitting...
everything reaching,
dancing,
celebrating.

us, too.