Breathing Easy, Feeling Mellow

How can we get away?

For a vacation?

For an educational and fun packed long weekend?

How can we sanitize the house adequately enough, to leave it in the hands of people we know and love,

and leave all of our furry and feathered friends in their care, and then just dash away on our adventure?

How?

Good questions.
Until yesterday, I had no answer.
I had anxiety, stress, worry, self-conscious-psycho-hoopla-babble, and a knot in my guts.

Every effort to put the house in exceptional order was derailed by some crisis, or another. Daily life here is full enough, and mustering the energy and time to get us over into The Land of Deep Cleanliness, Organization, and Serenity is a nearly improbable feat, for me, anyway. I do want to go to there, to TLODCOS, The Land of Deep Cleanliness, Organization, and Serenity, but I stray, I lose my way, stuff happens, I get bored.

Oops! Not sure it's proper to use "boredom" as an excuse for not having our Bird House in better order, but, well, it's out there now... so, come on... can we agree there is some mind-numbing stuff related to being a domestic goddess? And also, I resent the fact that as soon as the house is half way decent someone invariably decides to walk in and start something!! But, I cannot deny, I would much rather chase goats, write blog posts, bake bread, tutor Spanish, proof-read essays, build garden beds, make something, teach sewing... than hang clothes, or shred credit card solicitations. Yes, it's true, even I want to start something, more than I want to iron shirts.

Okay. Never mind all that. I had another purpose in mind for this post.
So... how can we just dash away on our adventure?

After Michael and Patricia came by, I now know the answer: We can go, by accepting the help and understanding of caring and compassionate friends, by trusting that dusty corners, and dirty laundry never really go away... not without sacrificing in some other area of life. We can make this trip because life is not simple, and messes aren't always about laziness or neglect. Some messes are about different priorities, and unforeseen circumstances, and choosing to do things rather than polish things. I have been genuinely and gently put at ease by my friends, and I even feel I am doing the universe a disservice by fretting so much about what I fail to achieve, when the truth is I am trying really hard to keep a lot of things safe, happy, engaged, and moving forward. I feel like Patricia and Michael see this, and accept me. A lot of people do, actually... I just need to turn down my own self-deprecating voice, and listen more carefully.

Dear Patricia, dear Michael,
Thank you. I know you will manage things, here, just fine, and this knowledge makes our trip to Maker Faire possible. It's not just that you've agreed to watch the cats, and feed the goats that helps me breath a sigh of relief, it's the kind things you tell me, the sincerity of how you reassure me, and make me feel like I am on a good path... these supportive gestures give me courage, and soothe my heart. I actually feel mellow! What a gift!

Enjoy the pool, though it's c-c-c-cold. Help yourselves to garden peas and spinach, fresh eggs. And thank you.

We want Michael and Patricia to come with us next year, to Maker Faire. So, I am thinking we need to build a Gypsy wagon that we can tow with our Green Goose, and in the wagon, we can bring all the chicas, goats, cats, the bunny, the automatons. Geoff? Geoff, what do you think? I think I am starting something...

**Star Student**

Maria is the Star Student, this week, at school. This is an occasion that she has been eagerly anticipating since August; her turn to make a poster about her life, and to stand first in line, to bring home the stuffed dog they call Pal, and to write about her weekend in the class journal. So, from the last bell, Friday afternoon, until this morning, she has been a very busy star.
She chose photographs to print for the poster. She cut them out, glued them down. I typed her captions for her. As excited as she was about this finally being her turn, she did at one point sigh deeply and declare, "This is not good timing. I have Maker Faire to get ready for, and I am trying to get everything done for Mother's Day." Yeah, only seven, and already managing very full agendas!
She cut out all the captions, and glued those down too. Once we saw some of the highlights of her life laid out on display, we were all impressed with what a full and exciting life she has been enjoying!
The part she was most eager to complete were the drawings. She wanted to illustrate her favorite interests and activities, like road trips! This makes me really happy, because I have loved traveling with our family. We've made some really great trips together.
"I like to draw! I add detail to my pictures and lots of colors!"
I like to do math. It is fun!"
Awesome. I see all of this, and feel so happy for her, for all of us.
"Reading is fun to! And I like to write! I do all kinds of things!"
It's true. She does do all kinds of things! And it is so cool that she thinks of more things that she wants to try. She doesn't get too easily discouraged, and she really enjoys the journey, learning and sharing experiences as she goes. She's an inspiration, to me.
I'd love to be there, when she shares her poster. She is hoping her classmates will have lots of questions!
One question I keep asking, how did we get so lucky, to have this special girl in our lives?

Epic Feast and Destruction Mother's Day Extravaganza

And the day is just beginning. There are no words. Love this big defies summaries, explanations.

Happy Mother's Day, to all the women who love big, who play, and work, and share in the many pleasures of life. Love, and be loved.

Sheep and Wool and Soap News

Maria has asked to pretend we are at Maker Faire so she can practice what she wants to say and do when she is sharing her wool demonstration. She wrote step-by-step instructions for making felted wool bracelets, and yesterday we practiced felting, by felting bracelets, and bars of soap. I am so impressed by her desire to be prepared, her eagerness to have everything ready... skills, as an adult, I am still trying to fine tune. So, yesterday I was a visitor to Maker Faire, asking questions and inquiring about the bracelet making project. She managed her answers quite nicely, and then together we made bracelets. Actually there is one question we don't have an answer to: Why doesn't the sheep's fleece felt and shrink when the sheep are out in the meadow, getting damp, and rubbing itchy backs on a post?
The package from Sandie, of Wild Rivers Wool Factory, arrived and in it were at least twenty unique samples of different wools. Each sample was labeled, in a clear, sealed bag. Sandie also sent copies of "Sheep Reader," for young readers, from the American Sheep Industry Association. Maria and I read every article, and then we studied all the different wool samples from the different sheep breeds. They are so beautiful! We were loving the textures, and colors, even the smell! It was Maria that first made us realize that natural roving has a sweet-sheepy-woolly scent.
Did you know... there are more than 1,000 different sheep breeds in the world?!
Did you know... there are 40 different sheep breeds in the United States!
Did you know...some mother ewes can have as many as five lambs at once!
Did you know... the fleece from one sheep can make a full suit!
Did you know... one pound of wool can be spun into 20 miles of yarn!
Did you know... wool is flame resistant, and will not catch fire!
I did not know, until Maria read me the Sheep Reporter!
The second package to arrive from Oregon... wool roving! Maria's Grandma was visiting Wild Rivers Wool Factory, where she met Sandie, and she chose three beautifully dyed bundles of roving for Maria to share at Maker Faire.
Just look how big these few ounces of wool roving are... and it feels so light and soft and huggable!
A little wool roving goes a long way. We will have plenty to share, thanks to Delia.
Okay. At Maker Faire, Maria is going to demonstrate felting wool roving to make bracelets. But today, we are going to show how we felted these bars of soap. The process is similar... it's about measuring fibers larger than the finished project, gently pulling them apart from the whole roving, submerging them in water and then using friction to get the fibers to bind and shrink to size... that's felting! And if you want to learn how to turn a nice bar of soap into something really pretty, then click this link and visit us at Love and Rockets Make!, where Art and Engineering meet to play!

{this moment}

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
:: Inspired by Soule Mama ::

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Maps and Road Trip{s}

I love maps.
I love road trips.
I love to read maps, and imagine road trips.
Maps are beautiful story telling puzzles, with endless beginnings, middles, and ends. I pick them up, read them like a novel, sigh when I imagine the protagonist pitted against the elements, and the scenery I envision catches my breath. Marvelous, portentous maps.
Maps make me cry out, "I want to go to there!" My finger, and imagination, trace the lines, follow the roads, and I sigh.
Some roads are so familiar, so intrinsic to my cells, that I can feel the turns, see the trees, know the stops where I will feel welcome and home...almost like being there. Almost.
Some road trips are waiting for me. They are only imagined, highly anticipated, waiting for me. I want to go to there. Other roads I could take again, and again, and again. It doesn't matter if it's familiar, because no two visits are alike. The story is always new. Seeing the game I was playing, Maria lit up and said, "The Eiffel Tower! The Eiffel Tower! Say you want to go to Paris, and the Eiffel Tower, because this time I want to climb to the top with daddy!"

Are you tracing maps, imagining roads and stories? Where do you want to go to?

Dear Google Maps, I love you. Thank you for showing the way.

Sincerely,

Natalie, the Chickenblogger