Oh, my.It has been tough being away from here. I feel like an explanation is warranted, but this just isn't the space for it. Suffice it to say that 2010 was a tough one - some days we figured out how to cope and other times we were just fumbling and muddling through and it wasn't pretty. I know this year was a difficult one for so many. I'm ready for a fresh start, a new year, a do-over.
The arrival of Christmas vacation was so totally welcome and this week off is something I always savor, deeply. I get back on top of chores, I bake (cookies, breads, marshmallows (!), tarts) and cook, and Willa and I get in a terrific, slower-paced routine that honestly, without the rushing around of work and school, is more my speed. We painted and played with clay and made necklaces and listened to records and danced. We mailed away our hats to Caps for Good. When the wind (finally) stopped ripping through the hollow, we went for walks. And I read and read and read. My favorites from this break's list (so far) - Joan Didion's The Year of Magical Thinking and Patti Smith's Just Kids.
Garden-wise - Before Thanksgiving - I got 50 daffodil bulbs, a fringe tree and a red bud in the ground. I couldn't believe I snuck those in under the wire. Planting trees always feels like a huge accomplishment to me.
Over the weekend, I planted up the cold frame with lettuce, chard, carrots, spinach and radishes. Indoors, we have been making moss terrariums and placing little ceramic creatures among the carpets of green. Magic. I also made a moss milkshake and painted the strange goo over the sides of terracotta pots and some stonework- hoping for some cool, relic-type points of interest for our spring gardens.
A warm day today sent me out to the vegetable garden to do a little clean-up. Which had me thinking about the upcoming year and the possibilities. Maybe more berries? More fruit trees? A fig tree, finally?!
I think I'll be content with more laughing, more levity, more lemon curd tarts, less fretting and what-ever the garden (and the universe) end up sending my way. Happy New Year, everyone-s!
8 comments:
Tracey! It's lovely to hear from you on the first day of the year (for me, anyway!) 2011 is going to be a good one, I can feel it in my bones!
I say go for the fig tree. My aunt has one and it is just the most lovely thing. Shady, sprawling loveliness.
Happy New Year!
(NeverEverEmma posting from my new blog!)
I am with you on saying so long to 2010. Thank you also for jarring my adled memory for the Patti Smith book. I asked my wife what was the name of the book I told her I wanted to read, and was met with a blank stare. I hope the coming year is better for you than the one past.
Happy New Year, Tracey. Wishing you and your beautiful family peace and joy in the new year.
Happy New Year Tracey. Hopefully we can meet up at a concert (by design or sheer luck) again this year! Love the green wall!
Happy New Year! I read this and it is so much like my own experience with end of year... Glad to be done with the old, excited about the new, and dreaming of gardens, berries and figs while sneaking the heavy planting in between the wind/snow/frozen ground. Best of luck in the new year.
I am glad for the new year as well. I am welcoming in 2011 with gusto...praying for a better year. Hope yours is filled with love and happiness! Carla
I vote figs and a gathering soon.
Hooray for 2011 indeed! Can't wait to see what this year brings.
Post a Comment