What I’ve been grazing and grooving on……
I’ve been squeezing the last drops of juice from January,
the one month each year that sometimes feels like vacation
because our gardening business settles down for a long winter’s nap
and I can throw myself more into projects I’ve been saving for the big quiet
but this year has been cheeky, as the sap is already rising,
and so I’ve been hours in the trees, pruning,
and I’m sore from the hard and cold and a stiff sort of sleepy.
My blogging process looks a lot, in my mind, like gardening and cooking;
I tend what’s growing in my heart, writing down snippets and making bites of art
and then gather the bits into bouquets
or cobble into soup or salsa or pie
to serve up fresh and in season here every week
(a small lyrical café, I imagine:))
but I’m a wintery sort of tired this week up here pruning away
(and I skipped a week already, didn’t I)
so I’m going to serve them straight up, the munchies I’ve been grazing on,
the clippings of what I’ve been loving (like turnip greens and their sweet baby roots).
Feel free to snack on the whoosh and whisper of it all:
~ There’s fierce beauty in spending less than we make.
~Urgency is rarely true, and is always a lie when it’s compulsive.
~ We are – all of us – lovely to God
(don’t let shame hiss at you otherwise)
~ “Hope is a conclusion we stay in
as we hope our way through hopeless circumstances.”
-Robin MacMillan
~There is something profoundly and deeply right with each of us.
~it takes me back home to the healer of my heart, whispering in the cold, brave sunshine
how Love walked right into this thumping ache of mine, went tenderly to the room
where I feel broken, and moved in bearing balm and comfort and courage
and “where does it hurt?”
and when the wind outside was howling chaos,
became the greenhouse where my fiercest flowers grow.
~ “…the air a library and the record of every life lived, every sentence spoken,
every word transmitted still reverberating in it.”
-Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See
(potent read and a terrible beauty)
I'll soon be down from the trees and back in my heart's kitchen,
stirring up something hopeful yummy to serve
but didn't want to go silent so long so here is my little offering.
Much love and light and lift to your astonishingly beautiful heart - xoxox
(little drawing to give away a copy of my February issue zine, Ripplesongs;
leave a comment
and your name goes in the fuzzy hat)
Dear Jennifer, I envy your green grass over the mountains of snow we are buried under.
Your red sky is absolutely spectacular and so colorful.
February just sneaked in so fast and I’m sure March will soon march in as swiftly.
Maybe February is a great time to prune myself to make room for fresh growth for Spring.
Take care,
Hugs,
JB
I don’t know if I’m brave enough to do mountains of snow, Julia;
cannot even imagine that kind of cabin fever! Yes, green grass
and cold wind but I can get out and go and am super grateful for that.
love to you in the waiting for dry ground,
Jennifer
Loving your whoosh and your whisper. Hugs.
Thanks for coming by and shining your lovely light:)
-Jennifer
Oh…gosh…just love all of this…your words…the quotes…your art… Reading that you are pruning so reminds me of my dad on the farm…pruning his apples and peaches…each tree being something special…thank you for giving me that opportunity to go “there.”
Each tree does have it’s own unique voice. And I do, sometimes, hug them:)
Thanks for that beautiful share, friend,
Jennifer
I’ve been reading many blogs over the past months, trying to weed out which ones speak to me to narrow my focus so my time is well spent. I love to read, but too much sitting doesn’t agree with my health, and so I am selective over what I read. I am so very grateful that I found this garden patch with so many good things growing in pictures and stories. Your words -fierce beauty in spending less than we make – I will carry in my heart all this week as encouragement for our family goals. And your photo of your shadow, up on the ladder, is an image so perfectly genuine it takes my breath away.
Warm thanks for that beautiful encouragement, Donna Hopkins:)
I so appreciate. More than words can show.
Much joy in the journey to you,
Jennifer
I love your snippets. And your cafe. And you.
Thanks for loving the way that you do:)
Every time you visit it sets my heart to grinning:)
-Jennifer
There’s fierce and uplifting beauty in your words and photos. Thank you.
THANK you, Lady Fi…..means so much, your kindness:)
-Jennifer
We all need pruning now and again. Thank you for this!
Seems like pruning time
does always work some pruning
in me…such a good point.
Thanks for sharing here, wise Barbara,
Jennifer
The images in this post are so powerful. I can’t really put words on it and I don’t think it’s necessary but they touch my soul deeply. Thank you for sharing.
I so appreciate you sharing that, Michele;
means more to me than words can show.
Love and thanks,
Jennifer
You have squeezed potent and pungent juice from January. It awakens the senses. What a clarion call to offer and receive comfort and courage, to take what is given and embrace it with great love. Thank you!
Oh I love this comment, Bruce; THANK you:)
I appreciate your visit,
Jennifer
I hear your words but I am particularly loving the accompanying photos 🙂
Thank you for hearing, Cherie;
I’m glad you dropped by to visit:)
-Jennifer
Your words for January ring so true. The winter months are hard ones for me but when one loses what was expected as a “light” time, and then it passes you by — well, it’s a bit extra hard. I think I am am experiencing something similar right now, so this resonates in a very special way.
Your sunset is simply breathtaking.How I long to crawl into that photo, to see it, burning bright and hard, all pinks and fuschia, purple and orange. I am breathless.
Thanks for hearing me, Jeanie; I love your listening way:)
Hope you find joy in every color of that sunset
in the days to come,
Jennifer
Oh I can’t wait to start gardening again! Here it’s still very cold, too cold to spend outdoors so I give some quality time to my art journal instead. Stunning pictures Jenn, especially the first one… holy wow!
Wishing you lots of sunshine xxx
Lindsay
Art journaling is travel in the sweetest sort of way, isn’t it…..makes
my heart feel like swimming just to hear you describe your quality time.
I am loving my treasures you sent….thank you again:)
-Jennifer
Lovely words and images!!! That first photo…wowza…so beautiful!!
It was a wowza moment, for sure…..so fleeting but real.
Thanks for sharing it with me:)
-Jennifer
Oh I love all your snippets and bites here….here we are buried in snow so we are having a long winter’s rest….wishing you some rest soon!
sweet rest to you bones and soul, Donna; I’m grateful for the work
and the food that keeps filling my belly when I’m hungry.
Feeling hungry for a kind of rest; gonna take some time tomorrow
to feed it:)
-Jennifer
Jennifer… your writing just blows me away!! That sunset shot is breath taking! Love your life….
xo
dulcy
I so appreciate how your sparkle touches me every day! Your glitter is sprinkled all around me!
What stunning photographs. I can imagine how difficult it must be out there in the elements pruning your fruit trees, but with so much beauty all around you I guess you’ve got something to make your heart sing when your limbs are leaden and tired. Sometimes when I’m doing something mechanical and repetitive I find that the process allows my mind to run free and all kinds of creative thoughts flood through. Often that’s when I have my best ideas. All the best for the rest of the project. May it bring you lots of fruit at harvest time and a cornucopia of creative ideas in the meantime, Bonny