out the driveway

out the driveway, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

john rides on the lane

john rides on the lane, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

I feel like I've been holding my breath all week.

Untitled, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

I'm so ready for the weekend. A long one with no where to go.

being here

It is never too late for any of us to look at our minds. We can always sit down and allow the space for anything to arise. Sometimes we have a shocking experience of ourselves. Sometimes we try to hide. Sometimes we have a surprising experience of ourselves. Often we get carried away. Without judging, without buying into likes and dislikes, we can always encourage ourselves to just be here again and again and again. Pema Chodron

Mi Familia

ella's family, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

Ella's Spanish teacher is one of my favorite people ever. They were studying the extended family, and I just had to show you her family complete with her aunt and uncle's dogs, our cat, and a box of baby chicks.

I just adore the details in all the family members.

self

self, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

self

self, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

So happy to live on a road quiet enough to lie down in the middle of it. We do have a few neighbors, and they are probably starting to wonder about me. I'm having trouble with this self portrait class, and I was looking for an angle that I could tolerate. 

6 chicks

6 chicks, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

They are growing so much every day and are gaining strength. I covered up their pen with hardware cloth so they can't fly into the utility room. Everyone is named now, and we have Scout, Henrietta, Susan, Flower, Puffy, and Clarisse.

he tills

he tills, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

chickens

the chicks are here, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

Our chicks arrived today. We have two barred rocks, two golden laced wyandottes, and two light brown leghorns. They'll be living in the utiltity room for a few weeks, and the children can't believe their own good fortune. They are hilarious to watch, and tonight one even fell asleep in my hand.

planting

planting, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

digging

digging, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

wheels

wheels, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

We moved into this house with a lawnmower fit to mow a postage stamp, and being quite naive we bought a small twenty inch electric pushmower. After a long spring of charging and mowing and charging and mowing our two and a quarter acres we finally invested in the right machine for the job.

We've set aside part of a field for a meadow, and the goldfinches are going wild on the wavering stems of grass seeds.

eye

eye, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

I am starting another photography course with the lovely Vivienne McMaster this month. May is such a full month, but I'm going to dive in anyway. Each time I sign up for the class I'm very excited, and then the trepidation sets it. What am I doing? I'm taking a class about how to do my least favorite thing--take pictures of myself? It is so much more than that. When I think about Vivienne's classes I am reminded of the line by Mary Oliver, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

Well, I'm going to romp around in fields of flowers this month. I'm going to build a chicken run and take pictures of an abandoned house in my neighborhood before it gets torn down. I might even use all those dials and menus on my camera. I am turning 46 this month. I'm yarnbombing a tree with  a group of elementary school kids.  I'm going to take the kids to the pond to see the baby geese. I'll paint my picnic table blue, smell the peonies, plant herbs, till, mow, and plant tomatoes. I bought enough seeds to plant three hundred and forty feet of basil plants. That's a lot of pesto.

What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

coconut bread

I bet the littles would love this

biscuits and gravy

I wanted to link to this month's Vegetarian Times and share the recipe for their gluten free biscuits and chickpea gravy. We aren't gluten free, so I might make my regular old biscuits and top it with the gravy, but I'm going to post the whole thing for my gluten free friends.

Biscuits.
1 cup white rice flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1.5 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 oz or 1/2 stick of butter
3/4 cup fat free buttermilk

Gravy
1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
2.5 tsp paprika
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper
3 tbs veg oil
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup chickpea flour
4 cups warmed milk

Biscuits. Preheat oven to 375. Butter baking sheet
Whisk dry ingredients. Cut butter into flour until no big lumps remain. Stir in buttermilk.
Roll and cut 16.

Gravy. Pulse chickpeas, paprika, poultry seasoning, onion powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne until crumbly.
Heat oil in the skillet and add chickpeas and saute until fragrant and crisp. Transfer to a plate. Add butter to the skillet and melt. Whisk in potato starch and chickpea flour and cook one to two minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and cook one to two minutes or until sauce is thick. Stir in chickpeas and season with salt and pepper.