and then there was rain...

Colorado needed rain, we were dried out, cracked out and burned out. But be careful what you wish for. We needed the rain, but maybe not all in a few hours...

The creek that runs behind our  house turned into a ragging river sweeping away anything that happened to be in its path, roads, bridges, trees...  and the whole time I had Johnny Cash going through my head.

We happen to live at a part of the river where there are steep sand cliffs and before Thursday it was about a 35 foot drop to the water, by Friday morning at 1am there was only about eight inches between the ragging water and the top of the cliffs. Thankfully the water didn't get any higher.

Thursday afternoon

Thursday

Thursday

Thursday

By Friday morning we were sleep deprived, and thankful. Not everyone was a lucky as we were. The old tree is hanging on, and the water is going down. The landscape will be different, the creek will keep flowing and someday we will all get back to day to day life.

old tree

Saturday

harvest

The harvest is starting to come in and it is all I can do to keep up.

It has been hot and sticky and makes driving to the mountains for fresh spring water all the more welcome.

So for now, all I can do is drink tea and fill up all my jars...

and grill a peach or two.

Happy September!

home

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Whenever I’m away for a long stretch of time coming home is slightly unsettling. The garden turned into a jungle, the horse shed came down, the weeping willow branches are touching the ground, and the kitten is a little bigger. It’s the same, yet different. 

Now comes the sorting, cleaning, laundry, cleaning, organizing, laundry, and cleaning that always hits the first day back. After that, lesson planning and getting ready for the new school year. 

I am content to be home, yet I will miss my walks with the professor, brunch at the hilltop, and my afternoon spent by the lake.

inspiration

Some days inspiration seems just out of reach. Dinner never gets cooked, the mess in the house gets bigger, and it feels like it is 100°F outside. Enter Sprouted Kitchen blog. The next week will be spent cooking arugula caprese salad with kale pesto, veggie naan'wich with feta chickpea mash, southwest goat cheese pizza and dreaming of salmon skewers with cucumber yogurt sauce.

There is only a week left before my east coast adventures and the bags from California are not yet fully unpacked. Here are some pictures from our trip if your interested.

The tree at my favorite little cafe 976. Many hours have been spent in their garden.

 Balboa park

 The view on a foggy June day.

eggs

This is what I found when I walked out my front door this morning...

slow to come

Spring, it turns all the world green. This year it has felt like it will never come. It has been slowly dragging its feet, teasing us and flurting with us. It has been slow to come but it is here now.


I spent the morning outside in the garden, it was cool and I was visited by sweet little birds in need of a drink of water. Do you remember what the garden looked like in March? Well it looks a little different now.

The greens are going crazy, and we have so many radish I'm not sure what to do with them. But thats a problem I'm happy to have.

and then there was...

This has to be my favorite time of year, the anticipation, the joy over each and every new green bud. Plants sprouting up on the window full of possibility and promise. It was all brown and then there was green, at first tucked almost out of sight and it is starting to spread across the land.

basil

Every day it seems that new plants have sprouted up, new buds are growing, and any day now the lilac outside the front door will burst into flowers.

I have started 12 different tomatoes, a purple tomatillo, serrano peppers,  and a Cinderella pumpkin. But the plant that I am most excited about is my moon and stars watermelon!

seed babies!

May each day be more green than the last!

SPRING!

All it takes is a little sunshine, and maybe some rain. Happy Spring!

Sunshine and Rain

A little green for Saint Patrick's day

Spring always feels like it is slow coming! Maybe it is all the anticipation and joy. We great each new green shoot as if it is the biggest gift in the world. I vaguely remember too hot days and having so many vegetables in the garden I couldn't eat them fast enough, but that all seems like a dream. What we need now is a lot of rain to go with our sunshine. 

blood oranges

I have been dreaming of margaritas and making strawberry rhubarb rye crumble bars.

rye crumble

Today I will plant snap peas and start my moon and stars watermelons. That is if id doesn't rain...

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all.

almost

 Spring is almost here. I can smell it and all the animals are starting to get stir crazy. The birds are chirping and singing outside the window again. I know I know, its only the first week of March, but can't a girl hope? 

first outline of garden

 The chicks have arrived at the feed store and the little farm has turned to mud. We started working on the garden, and even though March weather can be temperamental I hope to spend at least some time each day outside making our land ready for spring. 

Today was filled with lemon scones, homemade goats cheese and quick blueberry jam. I had a bunch of left over blueberries from my birthday, and what better way to eat them then poured hot over a fresh light as a feather scone filled with goat cheese? 

Easy Quick Jam

Blueberries
Lemon Zest

Heat berries and zest in a small pot covered with a lid until the berries are split and the juice is thick. Spoon over scones, pancakes, french toast, or just eat with a spoon.

Enjoy!
 

and then it was green

   Winter is hard for me. It is hard to explain. It is hard to even think straight some days. It seems that I am holding my breath waiting for spring. For the world to be green and for time to do what I love. It is not that there is not a love for teaching, but it seems that more flows out then in, and at the end of the day there is nothing left inside.
  Maybe I'll go read my seed catalogs one more time...
 
  

flu

    I can not wait for spring! There seems to be a point where winter is just too long, that and the flu struck. My students had been falling one by one, yet I thought that I would get away clean. Boy was I wrong!

    I slept for a week straight, and when I awoke the work was piled up and it was almost valentine's day.
    I had great dreams of sharing cookie recipes, starting my garden, working on the kitchen... that all went out the window.

    I have however been sewing valentines for my students. I had an old felted red sweater, some lavender and yarn. Two hours later I have valentines for all 15 of my sweet little kindergarteners.

    Now all I have to do is write a story to go with them. Once upon a time...

dream

My kitten

     One of my dear friends passed away this past week. He was the type of person to dream big and live big. He never did anything half way, and his life was a reflection of that. He always told me to love every moment of life, to do what I loved, and suffering was optional. Make a choice, then live it. If it doesn't work change.
   Starting today I will be thankful for all that I have, I will find beauty in what is around me and I will choose to see the glass half full.
   Two that made me smile today, my little beast of a kitten and my lemon tree in full bloom.
  I hope today you found something to be thankful for as well.

Oh how I love Polaroid pictures, and lemon trees!

"Now that was something!" Sid Wolf

clouds of winter

There comes a point in winter where the clouds and grey are intolerable. The only way to get through the days is to dream of spring. Spring starts to creep into our heart and everywhere you look, from Pinterest to the seed catalogs that arrive in the mail. It is a collective dream, and though the first green buds will not show themselves for months to come it seems that the new life is starting to stir.

For now I will have to settle for the memory of sunshine. And what a beautiful memory it is when it is slathered all over buttermilk pancakes.  Sunshine that was made by one of your lovely sisters!

Pancakes, kittens, a mug of tea and a warm fire, not a bad way to spend a cloudy Sunday.

supper

It seems that about this time each year I run out of things to make for supper. Another bowl of soup feels like torture when all I want is something fresh. What is a girl to do when she has a ripe avocado and a very hungry husband?
Triple bean and artichoke salad.
Problem solved.
I found the recipe in an old vegetarian times cookbook from the library, and of course turned it on its head. Enjoy!

Triple Bean and Artichoke Salad
Serves 6 (or in my case 2 with leftovers for a light lunch)

1 15oz can of white beans, rinsed and drained
1 15oz can of  black eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1 15oz can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 14oz can of artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
2 ripe tomatoes, cubed
2 good sized shallots, thinly sliced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
3 or 4 leaves of Lacinato kale cut into thin ribbons
1 ripe avocado, cubed
3 table spoons olive oil
3 table spoons balsamic vinegar
a little dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Mix everything together in a big bowl and let sit for and hour, if you can wait that long.
I served it with gluten free croutons (two slices of bread saute in olive oil until crisp) and  glass of wine.

skys of the past year...