Moonshine Junkyard

O earth that hast no voice, confide to me a voice, O harvest of my lands -- O boundless summer growths, O lavish brown parturient earth -- O infinite teeming womb, A song to narrate thee. - Walt Whitman How to sing the praises to a landscape so vibrant and alive that you feel it infusing energy and abundance into your very soul? I cannot correctly tell the tale, and yet this is what nature gives us, every time we venture forth, without question, without words. Walt Whitman addresses this dilemma well:  "Air, soil, water, fire -- those are words." There is a love beyond love, there is a story underneath all the stories. The land, the bones of the dead, the heart of the earth, the endless heartbeat narrative of life. "I swear I begin to see little or nothing in audible words, All merges toward the presentation of the unspoken meanings of the earth, Toward him who makes dictionaries of words that print cannot touch."  Last Friday...

We met up with Addie and Art and Utah last week to go to Apple Hill together.  See how cute they are?  Tootie and Tata (what she calls Utah and how he refers to himself as well) ran around holding hands. It was too cute for words. apple pie: Climbing into "the spooky old treeeee!" pumpkins galore: pops and toot at the pond: and us girls: At the end of the afternoon it got cloudy and cold which made me shiver with joy and then Addie presented us with a little Halloween goodie bag! I wanted to share some of the loot. Both girls love the wiggly skeleton straw! (also, notice that no-hands action? my strong sturdy little polly!) There's just nothing as nostalgic, spooky and charming as vintage Halloween stuff. Here's a little tin noisemaker.   I didn't know that these 1950's Rosbro plastics were worth pretty good money. I love this sweet little witch! Addie...

We held a baby shower here in my backyard for our beautiful radiant friend, CarolAnn. You might remember her adventurous "bachelorette" retreat , and her foresty redwood wedding ....well, the plot thickens. They are expecting a little Scorpio boy due around Halloween. Before I get down to the details of the party, here we are: the crew. Doniella, Rebecca and I planned and executed the party. While I put in some time on prep and decor, I gladly give all the real credit to my two sidekicks there as they did most of the work and stayed up late and arose early to prepare and make all the food and the adorable little mason jar peach pies you'll see in a bit. We envisioned a rustic, countryish affair celebrating the harvest, autumn, and babies. CarolAnn is a quilter and loves all things handmade, so we hoped to create a charming and inviting homespun atmosphere: we're talking haybales, pumpkins, mason jars, burlap, flowers....you get the picture. Rebecc...