mamas overnight

a week ago i was sleeping in a luxury hotel in roanoke.



i don't seem to get away much these days, and so spending the night in a historic hotel 130 miles away from home was quite exotic.





my quick glimpse of roanoke further instilled in me a fascination of this place called virginia. a combination of historic brick and contemporary angles, of mountain greenery and urban decay, of old railroad and new overpass, it seems a town whose creativity is energized by its roots.





tashi, who wows me with her talent on violin, made the cut for a junior regional orchestra. she, her close friends, and several other students from the charlottesville waldorf school, met with other talented musicians from all over central virginia, to rehearse for twelve hours and then put on a stellar performance. what an amazing reason to spend the night in a new town!







so i got to have a bit of girls weekend with my friend and our daughters, eating some tasty fresh food, admiring vintage architecture, visiting an art museum, a farmer's market, some shops and a salvage yard.











our short stay culminated with the performances of junior regional orchestras a & b, which were top class. wonderful powerful.




i am so proud of my girl, and feel so lucky that she now has a turn at leading us elsewhere.



i mean, it's been an elsewhere since her birth. our new baby, our new life as parents, it never gets old. but now her talents are forging the way. may it continue!

Spring Blessings

Source: magickalgraphics.com via Ziska on Pinterest

in which life comes back to trees

the blossoms are coming the blossoms are coming!



the pansies didn't even die this winter and now they are overflowing their pot



this morning i wanted to pick up some seed starting soil and realized that rather than going to the big box garden store in town, that i should explore the smaller nurseries dotting these hills. this morning it was the garden barn.

they didn't strike me as being overwhelming conscientious of organic gardening, but they did have a line of organic seeds in their shop as well as bags of organic potting soil. they also had a bunch of feisty chickens, some horses and cows. animals are always a good thing when your (almost) three year old is accompanying you.






when we got home we planted some cosmos seed in our eggshells. i'm still determined to have a cottage garden.





after lunch and playing with the new excavator in the sandbox we decided to beat the heat on the underused upper balcony. i made a little tent canopy for tristan where he hung out for quite some time. even though it was 80 degrees outside, he refused to take off his sweatshirt and the little guy was quite obviously overheated with his red cheeks and sweaty curls.





and then he finally freed himself, permitted me to take his sweatshirt off, and dropped his drawers.



ah spring!

well, almost spring!

all in a week

it's strange to think that last week i went to sleep on a sunday night, after spending a temperate day romping around in the woods, and woke up to a snow day



at one point the accumulation measured 5.5 inches and within an hour gained another two inches. this is a big deal around here, and doesn't usually come without warning.





the temperature of the day quickly climbed above freezing and i could feel the thick snow evaporate beneath my fingers as i built a snowman.



it came and went so fast that the spring blooms were mostly unscathed.



by the next day it was all gone but for a few spots of snow left in the shade

and then, what a nice surprise, an issue of taproot ended up in my mailbox, the new earthy magazine edited by amanda soule. apparently a mailing had been sent out by nova naturals.



speaking of earthy, we have been loving our woods. we found a small grove of old, tall cedars that i think will become clubhouse central. i'm cutting back scrub and thorns and marking off paths between trees, down to the creek and along it, connecting favorite spots, new and old.

when we spend time in the woods i feel a positive charge settle upon us. a sense of wonder returns, wonder that becomes noticeably scarce when too much time is spent indoors. i feel so lucky to live where we do. i see many picnics, forages, woodland and water study sessions in our near future.

looking up to cedar tops. . .



luna sits on "the bench" a low branch that extends out from a tree at the edge of the creek bank.



loki walks delicately above the water on his very own bridge.



tristan is really into the "x". he said there was an angel underneath it.



we also have taken to visiting the snake regularly. . .



and somewhere in the midst of our woodland play, what a nice surprise, dan and i were gifted with tickets to see jane's addicition in richmond. the world is a wondrous place! it was great fun to go to this sold out show on a friday night, dan and i, on a date! the music and theatrics and dancing and creativity were manna for the soul, especially this particular music that reaches back into my past when life was a bit more edgy and full of solo adventures. thank you sweet internet friend for making this possible!





and then back again, to the music in our own yard.