one

For Aven's birthday, we planted a willow in the front yard.


Clearly, we need more trees...



Grampa was on hand to help with the planting...





Princess dresses were worn, because really, what better reason is there for princess dresses...?







Then there was cake...



helping mix frosting,







and digging in...







And the prequel...angel food cake made by grandma with a view of the lake...



Sweet Birthday!

a little closer

I've been taking my last few deep breaths of summer,

feeling fall approaching, every day a little closer.



We continue to expore our new valley; from running broad dirt roads, to picking our way along a barely-there antelope trail...





Me to Amelia: "I think there could be snakes living here, so let me know if you see a snake, okay?"
Amelia to Me: "Okay. Mama, let me know if you see a mouse, or a jaguar, or a polar bear, okay?"
Me to Amelia: "Okay."



I scavenged a giant cottonwood log from the barrel pit along the road and viola...a little bench for three - Mike did the actual construction, so I can't take all the credit...very fancy all around, I know...




Aven takes some of her first steps along the swather path in our back field.

Our garden this year is strange. Since we moved in June there was nowhere to plant the tomatoes and peppers I had started from seed in our kitchen window. Until we learned about straw bale gardening...which honestly doesn't seem like it should work...how dow you grow stuff without dirt? But I've actually been pretty impressed with it.... We top-dressed the bales with llama manure and this organic chicken manure fertilizer that Mike sells in his store, and the plants themselves look really healthy. Now if only I could do something about the number of growing days...Michelle Obama and I see a very large hoop house in my future...more on that (hopefully) to come!









they're supposed to be this color...

We've had a handful of red tomatoes this year (all from my 'Silvery Fir Tree' tomato plants - which produced red tomatoes last year before the middle of July - go find yourself some!) but nothing like years past. Looks like we'll be living off the remainder of last year's massive canning operation.

Next post I promise birthday pictures of this short person:

for me this is true

I never test it out to see how cold.
I don't wait for the clouds to move, the sun to peek out
or the wind to change direction.



I take a deep breath and dive in.

I swim as far as I can never coming up for air until my lungs need filling.



When I do come up for air I feel restored.
Leaving the days worries to sift down
and settle within the tiny pebbles below
I make the swim back to shore. I am smiling.



For me this is true.
In the woods, we return to reason and faith.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

poem and concept blatently stolen from Sarah at Bee House Hives - I thank you for sharing this poem!

once around the sun

Aven will be a year old in just a few days.



There is so much to celebrate.



She walks with purpose on her short legs, points and names everything she sees (usually 'this' or 'that'), laughs so hard with her sister, is still surprised by peek-a-boo. She moves through the world with such determination, curiosity, and grace.



This morning I heard her chirping and singing from her crib. I climbed the stairs to her room and looked around the corner to find her standing, holding the railing, smiling that surprised and contented smile, her pale hair sticking out in every direction as the sun poured in all around her.



Sweet Aven-pie. We are so grateful for this year. We are so lucky to have you in our family, to watch you discover the world, and remind us how lovely it all is.

on the road

So, not be be all braggy, but the other week I drove appx. 950 miles... with my children...over four days... and we all survived!!!!



We ended up completing a very scenic loop from home to Missoula, to the Bitterroot, to home, to Missoula, to the Seeley-Swan Valley, to Butte, to home...whew.


burning off some pent-up energy at Grandma's,


No more car, mama!

pizza with a view of the Clark Fork River in Missoula,


tipis and gray skies along the Blackfoot River,



The upside of so much driving driving driving was that we had some much-needed time to hang out with Grampa Scott:


Followed by a fabulous time with Aunt Robin and John...which coincided with lots of teething pain and a flooded basement...in case you didn't know- Aunt Robin and John are major troopers!!

low tech teething relief...

We came home to a box full of new blocks,

cooler days and tea parties,



and princess dress-up on the porch...

ladies of the canyon

There are a few parts of the year where it seems I can actually feel the passage of time. The middle of August always has a strange, suspended feel to it...the days no longer have the intense heat of summer, or the intense, energetic rush of festivals, camping, roadtrips; that manic but wonderul urgency of getting it all in because every one of our senses keeps reminding us that summer is fleeting! By the middle a August, I'm over all of that.



That sweet rush of summer comes to a halting stop and we take a deep breath. We slow down. We spend time in the giant, silver wonderfulness of our russian olive tree,



enjoy slow, sun-drenched mornings reading library book after library book with dad before he leaves for work,



We get better aqainted with Jack-the-horse, who, although a long-time family member, is new to being a backyard attraction,




Though of course, we just wouldn't be us, without moments like this:



So it's not exactly a peaceful zen garden around here - just nice and normal (for us).




My mom (who I cannot listent to a Joni Mitchell song without thinking of) always called my sister and I, 'Ladies of the Canyon,' as in," Alright, ladies of the canyon, time for bed"...and I've begun to call my own ladies the same, so goodnight from southwest Montana, the sisters 'A', and the ladies of the canyon.

"Pouring music down the canyon-
Coloring the sunshine hours
They are the ladies of the canyon."
-Joni Mitchell