Summer  2009

Dear Friends and Family,

    As always, I join you with my love in my heart, and gratitude that we can be in touch through this amazing web – Grandmother Spider energy, allowing us to connect over time and distance. There is a short breather in our harvest cycles in garden and orchard so I am working on the website, in hopes of having it more complete, correct and current, and with more photos of this amazing FlowerSong sanctuary we now call home.

Improvements

    We have settled in and continued to improve the beauty and sweetness of this small acreage. It is terraced and without much open space due to all the trees, gardens, and pond. Wanting more elbow room and a ceremonial meadow, we took out 1/3 of the pond which had become clogged with huge reeds, dug a deeper diving place, and piled all the soil  up onto a flattened area where we put in lawn. Sunny had the brilliant idea of making a little waterfall into a small dipping pool where the irrigation stream enters the land, and now it is manifest – falling water, turquoise pool, stonework, flowers landscaped all around, and a cedar sun deck, all under the spreading cottonwoods (with a huge hammock to rest in the shade). This little pool area is the most wonderful place on the land, especially during hot summer days!
    An old garage was turned into a greenhouse and winter shop; a new carport / shop was completed, with a roofed wood shed. Aged, soft wood chips now fill the area that used to be a rocky, junky area. That is bordered by tall African marigolds, sweet peas, morning glories, and my line for hanging out the washing. New wooden steps come directly onto the upper porch and make a welcoming entrance. We added an efficient wood stove which warms our bodies and hearts.
    A new girlfriend helped me remodel and update many of the inside rooms of this 60’s cabin. Wallpapered and painted walls over old paneling in the living room, new floors and sparkling bathroom downstairs; upstairs we put Mexican tiles and sink into the bathroom, with new deep blue Marmoleum flooring. The kitchen was transformed from a dark corner with dirty cabinets into a light, bright, welcoming and nurturing place. That took me most of the late winter and spring; the results are spectacular.
    When it was too cold to work outside, we did crafts, made moccasins, read and rested. I occasionally got Sunny out into the gorgeous wild lands around here. This is a ranching, orchard, and recreation valley – many deep little glacial lakes with excellent fishing.

Sharing our Space

   Several apprentices and work study people have been with us this summer, for which we are very thankful. Cherokee did many hours of filming us for courses we can put on the web. Nandi assisted Sunny to get a good start on renovating the little log cabin that will be a sweet, 2 story studio. Joanna and Paul have brought the demonsration of their vegan, raw-food diet and wonderful energy to help keep things going . They also bring the gift of life,  a growing baby to be born here in late September! We preserved 40 cherry trees full of delicious fruit – steam juicing, fruit leather, and dried fruit. Our peaches and nectaries were lost due to frost, and we are just rolling into preserving an almost overwhelming bounty of tomatoes and plums, with apples on their way! I’m being more domestic than usual and learning a lot.  It has been great to have the extra hands sharing in the abundance and beauty of our sanctuary.

Is this home?