Dear Deer

With their mama in my garden yesterday. Awww... They can nibble on the veggies if they want.

Edible Flowers 3

Edible Flowers 2

Edible Flowers

Kittens!

That stray cat I named Petey is actually Petra. The reason she was so skinny and demanding now seems obvious: she had already given birth to her kittens! There are two, and they are old enough to be ready to explore. She's been hiding them under my deck. I think they are probably about 5 weeks old ... very cute. One is visible in this photo: the other one is hiding behind Petra. Now what am I going to do with these THREE additional cats?

Hidden Opportunities

My knees gave me warnings a couple of weeks ago after I moved a pile of gravel that they aren't young any more and maybe I need to hire that heavy stuff out or else take it very slow: like, move a yard of gravel over a few days instead of in one afternoon. Not a woman of steel after all! The one knee is still all puffy and so on, so when I assembled some IKEA furniture for my office (IKEA stuff is sort of like putting together simple, large puzzles with fasteners provided) I sat on the floor and moved from my waist, compensating for the knee, bending and stretching in different angles. During the last piece (the 2nd book-case) I reached for a screw and felt my back just seize up. I've heard that expression before, for car engines and for human backs, but I never knew it first hand. Man! It was like someone grabbed me from behind and dug their thumbs into my spine and just held on. Very immobilizing. I just stayed in that bent position, holding my breath, and wondering what was going to be the outcome. I moved slowly, found that straightening up an inch was painful but bending further forward alleviated the pain altogether. So I crawled (knee being now a minor concern) to the other room and secured my cell phone, just in case I stiffened up more! Using the couch, I was able to stand up, more or less, and since I already was dosed up on ibuprofen for my knee, I got out some ice and made an ice pack and sat with that for awhile on my back. I had a movie checked out: Dr. Wayne Dyer's "The Shift" -- so I watched it instead of tending to some of the ten thousand things on my list. It was a good choice. I guess I needed to slow down and spend some time in meditation. My knee still troubles me, but the back problem was gone by morning! Coming out of that meditative period sparked by the back 'seizure' I am rather deeply happy, and that is a blessing. Thus the back "problem" was actually an opportunity to spend deep thought (and beyond thought) entering into the meaningfulness of life. So beautiful.

Chickens at Play

My brother and my friend and Totem the chicken-house-artist combined their gifts to effect a bigger run for the hens. Totem crafted a nice gate, too. When the chickens got out into their new big space, they were delighted. They've spread their wings, and although none of them have attempted to fly out (the fence is 6 ft) I've seen two of them flapping around within, low to the ground. Ruby had a piece of something in her beak this evening, and Pilot and Sadie were both chasing her as she ran away from them. I think it was just a piece of bark, but they seemed to be having a playful game of tag. Just like kids. Very cool to watch!

Corn

My corn is about hip-high today.
Hip, hip, hooray!