Sunday, May 24, 2009

children

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I had a baby! That's her on the right. On the left is my first baby; and this is them together right at the beginning of their adventure into siblinghood. Five months have passed since then (isn't that incredible?? It's amazing to think that my baby girl is not a newborn anymore - where is the time going?). When I first started writing this blog it was in an attempt to capture the transitory nature of the things in my life - mainly the art and craft work that I was creating and then allowing to slip between my fingers ... into other people's fingers usually, but sometimes things just fade or deteriorate, and then soon those things are gone from my memory too. Then, of course, I started noticing that so much of everything else is transitory too - everything in fact - and it became difficult to know what to include. Luckily (!) I've been way too busy looking after my family to really worry at all about what to include or not, but the one thing that really has to be here is my children. Look at them! They're luscious and blooming. My newborn girl is gently dancing! My son is filled with wonder. Their skin glows, the world is new.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Crop

A plate of peppers picked from my garden! The crop is now pretty much over, but the enormous satisfaction of growing vegetables from tiny little seeds is great! I love my garden. It's very wee, and mostly in pots, but I love it. It's currently being ravaged by I don't know what though - all my baby broccoli plants are looking very chewed.

Monday, March 23, 2009

growing things

Hello again after a looong absence! Believe it or not, less than 24 hours after writing my last post I gave birth to an absolutely scrumptuous little girl. I was going to write about her today, and post a photo - after all, she too has a transitory, almost illusory presence in the Now - always changing, growing, becoming a new version of herself .... but I've decided to write a little bit about my garden instead. This summer I grew my first vegetables! It wasn't my first try, but it was my first success ... sort of! I managed to grow one eggplant (for some reason the flowers weren't pollinated ... the bees were scared of my plants ... but I have a winning way with a paintbrush ready to assist the bees with their pollinating business next season); lots of tomatoes; a pile of parsley and basil; several pepinos; loads of spicy peppers; a bunch of strawberries; and the beginnings of a pumpkin! And, sadly, no success with my zucchinis whatsoever. But, despite my limited success, I feel such an ENORMOUS amount of pleasure in growing food from tiny little seeds, into great galumphing plants. There's something wonderfully magical ... yet absolutely right and normal ... about planting a seed in some dirt, watching the leaves emerging, the plant growing, the emergence of fruit. It's beautiful. So here's a couple of photos - the beginnings of my solitary aubergine, and a couple of my first peppers.