Wind & Full Moon

Here it is, the turn in weather we've been expecting. Wind and leaves falling and cold. In Spokane, my home town, there hasn't been a frost yet. Here, yest we've already had one. We went to the pumpkin patch on Saturday and brought home some nice gourds and pumpkins and apples and drank some hot apple cider and feed the goats. It was completely fun and sunny and happy. Now we're faced with low light and stormy weather--everything equally balanced.

The full moon is on Tuesday, Aries/Libra 22 degrees. It's a time to remember how we own our assertiveness, and how we then can give it to others in a way that is fair to both of us. This moon is also accompanied by a Mercury direct--which is good, things have been righting themselves during the retrograde. A good thing I guess, although scary when it comes to how many us have planned our financial futures.

Well, not much time this a.m. as the grandbaby is coming today. I bought a fall doughnut for us to share, what was I thinking all that sugary icing. But hey, what's life for but some fun. We are eating our vegetables like crazy right, a little dessert now and them is harmless.
Ciao, Flower

Virgo New Moon

I like to follow the new moons, full moons, balsamic moons. We just had a new moon last Saturday. Interesting it was the day I moved my final belongings from my marriage house to storage. The new moon signifies a new beginning. Even if one is working on an on-going project, the new moon could be a recommitment, or a new phase of the project set in place. It could be a plan for the next step of the garden. It could be a planting for the fall. It could be the beginning of a new life.

When the moon phase reaches the full moon, this means whatever your project is, you should be seeing it at a more complete stage now and once again, reevaluate—is it going in the right direction? If not, tweak it so it does. There is a great book I read monthly called <a type="amzn"> New Moon Astrology</a> by Jan Spiller. You can make ten wishes each month. Write them in a journal and check back later, perhaps after six months and see what has come to fruition. It completely works.

Now in the garden, some swear by planting by the moon. The Farmers Almanac will tell you what to plant when. I have never done this, but my ex swore by it. He also swore by haircuts on the new moon. I went to cosmetology school, sounds like something in the cosmos, some galaxy, and no one ever said cut the bob on a full moon, a flippy bang on a new moon, on the balsamic do a tint, and when the void of course is for bleaching. No, we just did what came our way. As we do with the garden. And life.

If you want to plant a cover crop, you might try winter rye. Be sure to turn it in before it goes to seed. And if you want to amend the soil, you can use the manure and leaves and blood meal, or you can use my friends technique, lasagna—which is putting a little bit of everything in the garden, recycling paper, food scraps, leaves, manure, cardboard, etc. Worms love it. It works.

All for now,

Flower

Concrete Retreat

Yesterday I came to Concrete, south of Mt. Baker, for an overnight writing retreat along with my friend, Brenda Miller, of Bellingham Review, http://myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu/millerb/ Her friends are on vacation and were lovely enough to loan us their home for a writing retreat. Yesterday here was sunny here. I don't know if it was sunny in B'ham, but here, upriver in the Skagit valley, the weather was glorious. And this house is situated on a hill overlooking a meadow and then trees and mountains beyond. Bits of snow remain at the tips of the mountains, tiny patches so white against the black rock caps.

They have a garden here; several tiers soil secured with rows of boulders running the length of the hill between the house and the field--where another patch of garden: blueberries, raspberries, asparagus, rosemary, lavender and other plants grow next to a field of grass and clover. Sever fruit trees: peach, apple, and Asian pear, grow to the left, downhill from the house.

I thought that nothing much would grow in a garden so close to the mountains, but my friend says the owners put up tomatoes and jars of fruit and vegetables. I saw the little green apple starts and recalled how well peaches do in this climate--although I've never had success. Amazing--peaches so close to Sauk Mountain and the back side of Mt. Baker.

When I as in my twenties eons ago, my first husband and I would drive from Spokane, through Concrete on our way to Mt. Baker hot springs. We'd camp by the river and eat out side our tent on chilly days and sit in the hot springs with lots of hippies to warm up mornings, afternoons, and evenings. It was fun and also felt risky, so free, so subversive. Now the springs are closed, too much bacteria. But the memories remain.

Yesterday we took a hike through an old growth forest. The camping areas have been closed off so as to protect the forest, and it was obvious how the camp areas were less lush than the woods surround the trails. My mouth fell open, all the Old Man of the Woods moss, some call it Old Man's Beard. I took picture after picture along our hike through Rockport State Park. Trillium covered forest floor--wow, if I'd only seen it when it was blooming.

We returned after our walk to have a delicioius dinner: salmon and salad with artichoke hearts and fresh asparagus from the garden. At six, it was sunny in the field still, so we ate on the porch. It was a little cool, but wonderful to be outside. It's about time we had a warm day. I soaked up the sun, napping on the porch, writing on the porch, just sitting there and staring at the field with its mown paths edging the fenceline. Lovely.

Until last night, when I couldn't sleep; I thought it was the moon being close to full: Wednesday. I got up and came out to the living room. It was so bright, I could have sat here and read without a lamp, the moon shining across the valley like a fiend. Again, I was so taken by the beauty of the mountains, trees, and fields. I love living in Bellingham, but living in a town is noisy: trains, cars, people--getting to the country and hearing the wind in the trees, the Skagit River flowing past, and birds singing (starlings, robins, humming birds, eagles), feeds the soul.
For more about Concrete, see:http:://concrete-wa.com/community.php
Ciao!