Oh, well, hello there sun.

Dear Grandma,

There's not much to write about when it rains everyday. Which, it has been doing for about two weeks now. Finally, yesterday morning the sun decided to shine and I got to spend most of the day climbing around in an asian pear tree. I made squash soup for dinner from the last winter squash from last years harvest. I put lots of secret ingredients in it: cocoa, some white spice without a name, honey, and apple cider. Sequoia loved it, but I thought it was a bit too sweet. ;)

This morning we decided to use the old timer cook stove to make breakfast and warm the house. I scrambled eggs, moving the skillet back and forth to adjust the heat. Now I'm really confused as to why we ever invented the electric ones, when the old ones work just fine and also warm your home.

These are the things I did today: I chopped weeds for hot compost with a machete for about five hours, continued to mulch fruit trees, (an ongoing job that i've been slowy working on), fed about three large slugs to the ducks, rescued the ducks from the woods, laid on the wet grass and took boring pictures of the sky, called Grandpa and had a lovely conversation with him, called you and left a message, stopped for a cookie at the general store before heading to the highest point on the island for sunset. It's been a such a busy and inspiring day, to my surprise.

I thought it was going to be a bad day. I woke up in a funny haze knowing that something was wrong and that I just came out of some very intense dreaming. This is the dream I had with you in it: I was on your old balcony of the apartment you had in louisville off of hurstbourne lane. I was in a bath tub. I was singing a Whitney Houston song but I can't remember which one. You walked out on the patio and came up behind me. You rubbed chocolate on my cheeks in a circular motion. I thought that you had already left, so I was very surprised to see you. You were fine and healthy and you were rushing around getting stuff together like you were going to be late for a meeting or work or other kind of something away from home. On your dresser there was a container with a pendant in it and you kept insisting that I take it before you left. That it was mine and you wanted me to have it. I didn't want to take it and finally I said okay, that I would.

That's all I remember of the dream. I always like when other people have dreams about me and tell me about it, it makes me feel like I can be two places at once and do things that I'd never know about. So I hope you had a wonderful time rubbing chocolate on my cheeks. To me, that's one more lovely memory with you in it.

I know that you know its hard to not be sad sometimes when you think about everything you're going through. It's also hard to not be angry. I took my anger out on the weeds today with the machete.

I was so glad to hear you're still doing so well. You're the strongest. And you're in my heart and all the rest of my body.

I love you.

- Heather

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Dear Grandma,

It's about seven thirty in the morning here and pouring outside. It seems like you were a character in all of my dreams last night. Sometimes I have nights like this.

I haven't been doing much work in the garden lately - the rain here is never ending it seems. On Saturday I went for a ride around the island on Lane's bike. Here are some pictures from my small adventure, take note, I had to stop for a coca-cola. I hadn't had one since I'd been here.

I did get to plant some trees on Monday, and also took care of another bed of strawberries. Thats three beds of strawberries I've planted so far. The rain is very good for them! Though, I'd like it to stop raining so I can plant seeds and prepare more beds. While inside, I help Sequoia with doing her business plan and any computer problem that she can't figure out. Last night we made our dough for homemade rye wheat bread. Yum.

I'm hoping to do some adventuring off the island in the next two weekends. There's a state park somewhat close that has bouldering, so I'm going to try and make some friends to do that with.

Thinking of you always and sending my love through the air,

Heather

Dear Grandma,

For the past couple days I've been preparing the soil for these cute little strawberry plants that I'm giving a new home. To do this, I have to first remove all the weeds with the hoe and then start loosening all that packed in dirt. It sounds pretty uneventful, but so many things happen in the process. Today the chickens came up on the other side of the fence from where I was working - they wanted some juicy worms. I had thrown one of them a worm earlier and I suppose word had gotten around. I told them that the plants needed the worms and they could find theirs elsewhere, but I also went ahead and tried to hand feed one of them a worm I picked from the dirt I was working. It's a good thing I had on gloves! If not, I probably would have had a bloody finger. So, this was my chicken lesson for the day.

A blue heron has shown up at the pond two days in a row. Today it sat in a tree and I giggled at it because it looked completely ridiculous. They are very quiet birds, and very still too. . . In both days I've only seen it stand in three different spots. So, bird watching is also something I can do while I work the soil.

I think about you a lot when I do my work and today I called! Sometimes I'll just think and think and think about you and never think to call. Today I didn't do that.

I forgot to put manure in my latest prepared bed before planting the strawberries so I had to go through after they were planted and sprinkle manure over top of them. I did this with a large fork like rake. Some of them weren't covered sufficiently so I went back with my hands and made sure they had plenty of manure to help them grow. While I was doing this, I noticed that the strawberry plants I had to help out with my hands were getting more manure and much more loving attention than the other plants, and that made me think of myself. I've been so lucky. I think people that meet me give me more love because maybe I didn't have enough love when I first started out. I'm so lucky.

I'm glad to hear how well you are doing. It was so great to hear your voice today. It's peirces through all the thoughts that only stay up in my head. It lets them all drain out, through my eyes, into the air and maybe they make tiny clouds.

I love you.

- Heather

Strawberry Runners

Dear Grandma,

Yesterday I spent most of my day clearing the walkway of Sequoia's family garden of strawberry plants. The Strawberry patch had gotten a little out of control to say the least. Here is a picture of the wheelbarrow FULL of strawberry plants! Aren't they cute?


There were probably one hundred plants or more that I dug up. I'll replant them today in the share holder garden!

Miss you and love you and hope you are feeling well,

Heather

A Month on a Farm.

[From now until the end of my stay on the farm and possibly longer, this blog is dedicated to my Grandma Christie so that she can see how I am getting along here and that I'm able to do these things because of the love she has always had for me.]

Dear Grandma Christie,

I thought about you long and hard today while turning up some Washington dirt. I was making large clumps into small clumps and thought about how wonderful our visit together was and how I wish you could be here with me and see what I am seeing. The place I'm staying is modest, the house gets its energy from solar panels and the wonderful couple who live here built the house themselves. It's very lovely as you can see in the photographs. You know, with the photos you can kind of see what I am seeing, and when I think of it, I wish there was a way that I could see everything that you have seen in your life. Or maybe I can see it; in your face and the way you laugh. Today I planted seeds for grains and barley, and I hope that I'll be able to see some small sprouts before I leave!

I don't want to wear you out with too many words, so here are the photos (the sheep are Rosalita and Margarita and they are like very large happy dogs):

Love you,

Heather

P.S. I also just helped roast dandelion root for coffee in the morning.

Right Now

I feel like right now is a good time for me to start updating this blog regularly. I just got back from a week and a half long trip to the west, and I've come back with a renewed appreciation for home. Not that I did not find the western bit of the states that I saw utterly beautiful, but I love my home and its air and its people.

So now, I feel that I've had some time to step away and take a breath, a large one that took in the biggest trees, the happiest bears, expansive skies, and long heavy waterfalls. I'm ready to purge things that keep me from creativity, feelings that push away the most beautiful thoughts I think about my surroundings. I'm ready for my mind to go from chaos to silence to happy fleets to whatever it wants to whenever it wants to! Kind of like nature.

Here's a really nice picture that might sum up my trip for you.

horses should all be free.