blue sky day

It is that time of year– the time where we are in need of pumpkins. We packed ourselves and some lunch in the car (oh GPS, I love you and your navigational skills around this humongous new city), and headed up to Berry Patch Farm for a hayride, some pumpkin picking, some crafting, and even a little honey bee lesson from the farmer.

This rolly polly pig patroled under the picnic tables as we ate.

And not too far away the hens were snuggling. The roosters provided the mood music, and made sure to kids stayed on their toes.

I’m really liking this 300 sunny days a year thing Denver has going on. Even when it is a little chilly out, our jackets just have to come off. Just look at that sky.

new dress to cover the baby bump

There really is someone in there, and he moves and wiggles– and creates some giggles!

So, I have 4 kids and am half way through cooking up a 5th. That means I’ve been pregnant for about 45 months of my life, and during each of those months I’ve had to clothe my expanding belly– even for church every Sunday. But, this time around I feel like I’m at a loss as to what to wear every time Sunday rolls around. What did I wear those other 40 months? Beats me. So, I spent my Saturday making myself something soft and stretchy and comfy, even hoping it would be cute, to wear to church yesterday. I had many yards of this heathered mauvish soft cotton knit that I found on the closeout rack at JoAnns a year or two ago for just $3 a yard sitting on a basement shelf, so I cut into it and hoped for the best. I used Butterick 3385, which is a shirt pattern, and with a few modifications– making the sleeves long, using knit instead of woven fabric, and the obvious addition of enough length to make it a dress– I’m pretty happy. It’s not quite as fitting and flattering as I had hoped– but there’s room to grow, so come January I’ll still be cozy in my super soft new dress. It’ll cover my belly at peak expansion quite nicely.

today

making… bread with my littles.

laughing… at Ellie helping Brenna fold the laundry.

loving… that 15 minutes of quiet scripture study has become a consistent part of our daily routine.

using… my craft space just a minute here and there– right in the middle of the action, just like I had hoped.

It was one of those days I just needed. Not totally smooth and predictable, I think it will be many, many years before I have a day like that, but the time flowed and we flowed with it, and I’m happy.

food and open space

Through the middle of our suburban sea of houses runs this creek with its accompanying wetland full of birds and bugs and willows. We can get on our bikes, and in a matter of minutes (and with a little imagination) feel like we are in a secret wilderness, ready for us to explore. It’s a really beautiful place– teaming with cat tails to fluff apart, snakes to catch, butterflies drinking from the sand, spent sunflower blooms waiting for the birds to get every last seed. I love that developers have had the forsight to include some open-space amid the sprawling subdivisions that Denver has– so that we don’t forget what this place REALLY looks like. Even more exciting to my mind is the suggestion made in this article that not only should we preserve the value of natural habitats by including open space in housing developments, but we should also be including community farms– places where we can see and experience and connect to where our food really comes from– places that will help transform our culture to one aware of what real food is, and how interconnected everything on earth really is. I love that idea. I have been sorely missing our CSA this summer. I loved picking up our box of freshly picked veggies every week. Not only did it force me to try, and learn to like, vegetables I never would have even tried to pronounce, let alone eat, but those veggies were grown by a family that we knew and loved. We could visit the farm, tour the rows and rows of tomatoes, bask in the peaceful songs of the birds, explore the woods, and pet the alpacas that fertilized it all.

Though I don’t agree with all of Mr. Pollan’s propsosals I do agree that our conveyor belt system of eating is hurting our nation and culture and needs to be addressed. We do need an “emergency grain preserve,” not only a national one, but one stored in buckets in every home.

I would love to not only be able to ride our bikes on a path through open space to nurture our spirits, but to have a farm at the heart of our place– to nurture our spirits and our bodies.

And then, maybe I could have my chickens!