september on the farm

The golden month.

1. clara, owen, chasey the chicken and bryan at lunch.  owen's last day.
2. owen and chasey.
3. claire, owen and lud in the flatbed on the drive to the other field.
4. me, clara.
5. claire, me, clara, lud and the vegetable haul.
6. praying mantis, dirty hand.
7. lud face.
8. claire in the truck.
9. clara.
10. the official farm picture- lud, clara, bryan, owen, chasey the chicken, claire, me, anita and amy.  (clockwise from bottom left)

summer food adventures

Claire's birthday dinner table.

This summer (and spring), I tried lots of foods for the first time.  Here is a fairly comprehensive list:

• Duck
• Lobster
• Sushi 
• Kohlrabi
• Lamb
• Ghee
• Dragonfruit
• Mussels
• Squid seviche
• Venison
• Rambutan
• Sheep's milk cheese
• Smoked bluefish
• Breadfruit
• Passionfruit
• Guava
• Grilled calamari
• Mung bean pasta

And more, I'm sure, that I'm not remembering.  This has been an expansive year for me, food-wise and beyond.  Before July, I had been a strict vegetarian for 5 years.  Clearly times have changed!  Here are some recent food pictures:

Lobster.

My pizza - buckwheat/coconut crust, sauteed onions and leeks, steamed summer squash, black olives and goat chevre.

Claire's pizza - the same except +steamed beets and -black olives.

The king of fruit!  Durian leftovers headed for the compost.

goodbye july

July was chock full.  Not a moment to spare.  And mostly hazy in my memory already.  Luckily, I have these photos (and many pages of journal entries).  

And now August!  I am positively thrumming with change.  For those of you who are familiar with tarot, my Tower is majorly falling right now.  For those of you who are familiar with astrology, I'm really feeling the mercury retrograde.  Just when I think I'm definitely at my limit now, another intense situation comes rolling on in.  Life is crazy.  Life is good.  The intensity helps me not take things for granted.  It clears away the unimportant stuff so I can be grateful for all these experiences.  And that's what I'm carrying with me into this month; gratitude.

In gratitude,

Mada

Pictures:

1. Claire on the beach in Charlestown, Rhode Island.  My father and his girlfriend rented a house right on the water for a week.
2. My beautiful sister Camille in RI.
3. Claire follows my dad's strict (and highly effective) sand removal regime.
4. Wildflowers for my love.
5. Claire at the kitchen table.
6. Our other cat, Sherlock, gets a closer look at the mechanics of my camera.
7. Amazing fresh burrito fixings- homemade buckwheat tortillas, local pork sausage, homemade salsa fresca, red leaf lettuce and perfectly ripe avocados.
8. And the final burrito!  
9. One of my favorite ways to spend an early morning; taking a quiet swim in the beautiful lake, then air-drying while I drink a mug of tea.
10. Wild carrot, wild grape and staghorn sumac at the dam.
11. Gorgeous kale from the farm.  I've been living on green smoothies.
12. Summer salad- salad greens and cukes from the farm, avocado, olive oil, salt.

swift saturday, sweet sunday, mellow monday

Saturday:

Worked 8-2 today, picking and washing for the afternoon market.  Kale, chard, parsley, basil, beets, carrots, mint, rosemary, cucumbers, summer squash, tomatoes, garlic, salad greens, fennel, scallions, baby leeks and probably more that I'm forgetting.  Ran everything through the tubs, packed it up and sent it off to the market.  Brought home kale and salad greens.  Pre-farm breakfast: green smoothie with kale, blackberries and watermelon; a green juice with celery, cucumber, lemon, ginger and stevia; and a mug of ginger tea.  Post-farm lunch (I was SO HUNGRY): simple salad, fresh basil pesto on blond cukes.  Currently making rosemary onion garlic chicken for dinner!  Yummm.  Busy summer day.



Sunday:

It has been a rough and busy week at la casa mia.  Lots of difficult news from various quarters.  An extra day at the farm.  People coming and going and milling around all week.  I feel like I've put 10,000 miles on my car.  Part of me feels like never driving again; part of me feels like going on a roadtrip.  Oh, dear.

But today is Sunday!  And I canceled my one plan, so now I have a free day.  I'm going to do some crafty things around the house, write, get film developed, possibly go grocery shopping and just relax.  I was even thinking about pulling out my typewriter.




Monday:

I took the day off work today.  Good decision.  I spent my morning swimming, picking flowers and writing/recording music.  What a great feeling.  Now I'm at Claire's house, relaxing until dinner.  Tomorrow, to the beach!  My father and his girlfriend are renting a house right on the water this week.  Very exciting.

I am grateful for the freedom and wherewithal to run my own beautiful life.  I am grateful for the lake.  I am grateful for abundance in all areas of my life.  I am grateful for the farm.  I am grateful for my car.  I am grateful for the kind people that surround me.  I am grateful for my camera.  I am grateful for summer.  I am grateful for easy sleep.  I am grateful for the goodness in every hard experience.  I am plain grateful.

In gratitude,
Madeleine



pictures: 
wildflowers in a tall mug i made a couple years ago,
claire's skirt hang-drying on the balcony, 
sun-bleached hair long enough to braid,
farm feet, 
breakfast, 
garlic harvest, 
claire after work, 
a recent altar.

Past months

Current favorite recipe: Power Juice

• 2 large carrots
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 cucumber
• 5-7 leaves of kale
• tablespoon-size chunk of ginger
• 1 enormous clove of garlic
• 1/2 lemon, peeled

I am grateful -
Mada



(Coming soon: pictures from Italia and France!)