the campaign, so far

marian has some really sweet friends.

they are supporting her in her campaign

for sophomore class president.

they have helped her put up posters.

they have fliers taped to their lockers

that say "i'm voting for marian."

unfortunately, there are other kids

who are not so supportive.

tuesday after school, marian hung her posters.

on wednesday, before school even started,

her photographs had been vandalized.

the vandals were caught & punished.

{hidden cameras caught them in the act.}

we worked with the school to replace the photos.

today, some kids asked marian

for her fliers to hang on their lockers.

after she handed them out,

the kids tore them up in front of her.

freshmen!

classmates!!

what the hell?!

honestly, it's hard enough to get up

and go to school each morning.

why do kids have to be so mean?

what are these kids learning in school?

i'm really hoping they have a

"golden rule" discussion tomorrow.

i am proud of marian.

i'm proud of her resiliency

and also her sensitivity.

she is honest about what hurts,

and she is really brave

to put herself out there like this.

♥

p.s.

one of marian's friends

came over tonight for dinner

to make her feel better, and to

remind her of what's really important.

time for a list

{source}

i have so many thoughts & ideas
swirling around in my head.
instead of a well-composed post,
how about a super-fragmented list?
perfect.

marian 4 prez

marian has loved being freshman class president this year.

this weekend, she'll be busy making posters and writing her speech.

her campaign for sophomore class president begins wednesday.

positive thoughts are most welcome.

odd coincidence? 

i have been reading redwall to ned for weeks.

in it, there is a hedgehog named ambrose spike.

a few weeks ago, at the same time, i was reading the signature of all things.  in it, there is a man named ambrose pike.

what???

bloom

the baby orchid from this post has been living with my mom & dad in las vegas.  this week, my mom sent me a photo of its very first bloom.

anne lamott

i just finished reading stitches, and just starting reading traveling mercies.

waiting

weeks ago, i requested the goldfinch at my library.

i am now number 111 in line.

someday...

minor tweak

in the 6½ years we've lived in this house, we have rearranged the family room furniture {big couch, 2 big chairs, ottoman, coffee table, 2 end tables} several times, almost always putting it back the same way.  i have been craving something new, and we finally have a slightly new arrangement that everyone agrees is an improvement.

soup

i love making a big pot of soup, then having it feed us for days.

i've been making minestrone and my own version of this potato corn chowder.

irritating

my email server has randomly decided this week that all emails i send will now say they are from "centurylink customer."  awesome.

homeschooling

ned is in 3rd grade, and this is our first year of homeschooling.
needless to say, we have good days and bad days.  so far this year, he has read an astonishing number of chapter books, and has nearly memorized his times tables.  he has started doing a weekly p.e. class that has been really fun.  in february, we took a backyard beekeeping class and a stargazing class.

wardrobe

since last fall, i have really pared down my closet.  like everyone else, i had lots of things that i never wore.  after accidentally finding a few nearly perfect pieces, i started to really consider my "uniform."  this allowed me to let go of the less-perfect things and focus on what works for me.  my "new wardrobe" has yet to be finished, but i am beginning the process of making some linen dresses.  i'm finding inspiration here, here, here, here.

garage sale

last year's garage sale never happened.  as a result, our garage has been stuffed with stuff all winter long.  add to that, purging every closet & drawer, and we are ready for the mother of all garage sales this spring.

spring break

in a couple weeks, marian is flying to santa cruz to spend her spring break with emily.  the two of them will fly back home together and emily will spend her spring break here.  we are all looking forward to seeing emily, and you can imagine how excited marian is to fly out to california to spend a week with her.

other things on my mind

the princess & the pea

dryer balls

dog collars

the beekeeper's quilt

spoon butter

taxes

homemade deodorant

little dishes

daylight savings

furoshiki

♥♥♥

today {with a side of sheng}

this morning, i drove marian downtown to bsu

for day 2 of a student council conference.

it was a good excuse to grab some guru donuts

in trade for my long, early round-trip commute.

later, i drove back to bsu to pick her up.

a good excuse to get some green juice

to balance out my decadent morning.

in less than 2 hours,

she needs to be back there again.

thankfully, she's carpooling tonight.

okay, we had a last-minute family fall-out
where my limits were exceeded.
she did not go back for the dance.
as a result, i feel a mixture of
mostly guilt +
feeling like maybe i made the right call.
she was sound asleep at 8pm.
sigh.

if you lived here you'd know

that there is some idiotic traffic in this city.

frustratingly outdated infrastructure

that encourages hasty bad decisions.

careless drivers doing some really stupid stuff.

like a too-slow, swooping merge

across several lanes into 50 mph traffic.

right in front of me.

my nerves are shot.

and, what is happening here?

i'm not an expert, but i'm pretty sure

it's supposed to sound a little more like this

♥

a heaping portion of overwhelm, balanced by a big bowl of minestrone

things around here have gotten, um,

overwhelming.

underscoring the chaos today:

we have too many pets.
{yes, you told me so}
our dogs are being treated for giardia.

our snow has turned to mud.

two things making it better tonight:
this soup
{recipe below}

this wine
{this year is my favorite beaujolais nouveau ever}

my minestrone recipe/formula
in butter & olive oil, saute:
onion/garlic/celery/carrot/potato
with some salt & pepper.
add water or stock,
tomatoes/chick peas/kidney beans.
cook some pasta & add it {we like little shells}.
saute zucchini & green cabbage,
add to soup with a bag of frozen peas.

serve with grated parmesan & good bread.
like this

see?  makes everything better.

♥

sad farm news

note:

this news is sad, but no one was physically hurt.

i've waited a few weeks to share this.

you need to know that our farm,

earthly delights, is an urban farm.

casey farms a few privately owned

backyards in northwest boise.

it's a beautiful thing to see regular backyards

transformed into hard-working organic gardens.

one of casey's backyard properties had recently

changed hands, and she had been having

a difficult season with the new owners.

on sunday, september 29th,

after the final week of the csa,

those difficulties came to a head

when the landowners,

without warning or notice,

hired a neighbor to bulldoze casey's garden.

there were 73 crops in all,

including over 20 unharvested seed crops.

most of those crops were still producing food.

this is the garden.

it is the one we worked in on labor day.

a neighbor saw what was happening

and called casey to notify her.

casey rushed to the property and had

an intense, heated exchange with the owners

while the tractor kept mowing down her crops.

in the end, casey was threatened with arrest

if she ever sets foot on their property

{i.e. her farm} again.

although she lost much of the food she

and her interns were counting on to

feed them through the fall & winter,

the income she would have earned

from the lost seed crops,

as well as some irreplaceable seeds,

casey is choosing to react with positivity

to this devastating experience.

she has faith that her loss

will be a blessing in disguise.

casey is not alone.

many farmers in our area farm land

they don't own with little or no formal contracts.

casey's tragedy
sheds light on this tenuous situation.

she is organizing an appeal to the city of boise

to designate pieces of city property to be leased

to farmers at reasonable rates and livable terms.

on sunday, october 6th, casey held

a peaceful demonstration at catalpa park

in support of earthly delights farm

and other landless farmers in the valley. 

the demonstration was followed by

a vigil for the plants that were lost.

this is the end of a sweet, uplifting circle song
that we sang after the vigil.


we love casey.
we love the food she grows.
we love her commitment to this important work.
by supporting her, we are casting our vote
for locally grown organic food.

♥

overdone

not enough down time this week.
it feels like physical hunger, achy pangs,
when my need for quiet solitude isn't met.

♥

missing her

found this real simple article while waiting

at marian's orthodontist appointment

she was all five

♥

reasons why my patio is not as civilized as i'd like

reason number one:

reason number two: 

♥

p.s.

martha,

this post is for you.

♥

river rats & rescue rangers

tomorrow is marian's birthday.

today, we bought 8 river rats for her party.

{we're floating the boise river}

in an effort to waste as much time

and precious energy as possible,

while we were at the store,

i locked my keys in my car.

{adding roughly an hour to that errand}

rescue rangers saved me.

thanks, rescue rangers.

i normally have a spare in my wallet,

but i'm still in europe mode.

{spare key has now been replaced}

i'm feeling overwhelmed.

why did i say yes to a party?

ugh.

♥