big boy birthday

we had a birthday around here recently. i made dan this favorite chocolate mocha cake. we're still indulging in it.

dan opened a pile of gifts, including the rocky and bullwinkle video collection that i found for him at a thrift store. he often quotes the show, so i thought he'd get a kick out of it. he and tashi are watching right now as tristan naps. tashi and i also picked up george harrison: living in the material world for him. we are all enjoying flipping through it.

and then there are the mic stands that arrived in a big long box. he and tristan had a lot of fun with them this morning.

it's pretty sweet watching a father and son jam.

community playgroups

i'm so thrilled to be living in a community with an abundance of amazing mamas. i feel blessed by the connections formed, and emerging from these connections, regular playgroups. i have been meeting fairly consistently with a group of mamas and babes and tuesdays and fridays. we are still finding our rhythm, but it's beginning to emerge, organically.

and on thursdays tristan and i meet with a waldorf based playgroup lead by a former waldorf teacher. we gather in a special spot by the rivanna river and spend a very lovely 90 minutes together.

for all of us, a breath of fresh air. building stronger connections with each other, the earth and our children. a beam of light, a splash of water, a story, a stone. exploring the magic together.

inside outside

gosh. my computer seems to have finally found its end. it has been having fan troubles for almost a year. the other day it hit the floor (long story) and that seems to have been the last straw. i plan to have it looked at, in the dim hope that there is a simple fix. but i can't even make software updates because the operating system is six years old. right now when i turn it on there is nothing but endless grey screen.

in the mean time tashi is graciously allowing me to use her computer. and so it goes.

i'm very dependent on my computer, not only for information and connection, but as a creative tool. i compose poetry on my computer. i blog on my computer. i download, edit and share my photographs on my computer. without it, i feel boxed in.

but luckily my family understands and is willing to share, until what ever time i can manage to fix the old one, or obtain a new one.

and perhaps it is a message. when we are home i come and go from the computer way too often. it's time to go out and play!

bear with me

i've finally bit the bullet and updated my blog to the new blogger format. all my sidebar links are gone, but for a few i've added back in. i will slowly continue that process. and right now it is not at all looking the way i'd like it to look, but i'll work on that too. in the mean time, here are some pics of a few folks from my daughter's waldorf school 8th grade class, busking on the downtown mall as a fund raiser. they are awesome!

 

dark clouds of spring

seasons as life cycle



spring's virility, summer's radiance,
autumn's last breath, winter's gestation



life cycle within the season



brutal vernal constant
of vigor and deterioration

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!