Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Parsnip haiku

white carrot puree
creamy goat's milk and butter
new passion revealed

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Catching up

This space feels dusty and neglected. I've chatted with some of you recently and know that the loss of blogging mojo seems to be going around. I've had some good reasons for the neglect. First, there was the time spent getting my new place ready to live in. Then, the new school year started and I embarked on a work and church schedule that resulted in only an occasional evening at home and seldom ever a weekend at home. And frankly, I hit a block on the writing front.

Over the past three months, I've taken advantage of a life coaching group to help me make some significant steps toward reaching the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year. It has been enormously helpful, on so many levels. One area that I had identified as important to me to work on this year was the area of creativity, specifically, my practice of writing. I was frustrated when I got to the middle of the year and realized I wasn't even close to making progress in this area, so I made it a priority in the coaching process, and am delighted that I am finally working through some of the block and starting to write again. One of the most helpful things I've done is purchase the book, A Writer's Book of Days, and start using the prompts given for each day of the year to help get me started. I'm anxious to see where this kind of disciplined practice leads. And, I hope to use the blog as workspace for some of what I'm doing in the coming weeks.

So, I think that means I'm back to blogging fairly regularly. I took some time last week to look through old posts and identify some of my own favorites. I've created a list on the right-hand side of the blog that provides links to those posts. And now, brace yourself, as I said I would do in my goals for 2008, I'm going to dare to talk about my hopes and dreams for my writing. I want to work toward having some of my work published. I have no idea what or how or where, but for me to even say that's something I plan to do in a public space is progress enough for right now. I hope that putting that intention into the ether will help move me to make some more concrete plans.

So, stay tuned and wish me luck!

Friday, November 14, 2008

Introducing

If you're still reading here, and have read this blog for the last year or so, you'll likely remember that I've posted a few times about my experiences on my friend's 7-acre sustainable farm near where I live. You'll recall the time three friends and I went out to care for the animals while the owners were gone for Labor Day weekend. I wrote about our preparations for the weekend here: August 31, 2007.
And a few days later, I wrote about the weekend: September 5, 2007 Part I and September 5, 2007 Part II. Then, a couple of months later, I went out to help in the garden on a Saturday and wrote about the day: October 27, 2007.

Many of you have commented about how you enjoy reading about my visits there. Well, I've got good news. My friend, Bibi, who lives on the farm is now blogging about her life there. She just started and put up her first post today. So hurry on over and welcome her to the blogosphere and go back often to read about her work to start a goat milk dairy on her farm. You'll find her at Living on this Farm. And for some good recipes, check out the blog she keeps for her "day" job at Oklahoma State University's Seretean Wellness Center: Cowboy Bites.