Like stepping back in time. . . that's what my mother would say about Cripple Creek.  Downtown, as I like to call it, is a place of yesterday.  The mining that made the town boom is long gone.  Nearby Raven Cliff featured a pig iron furnace and it's likely this was a significant factor in its former success.  One of my coworkers grew up there, but his childhood home is long gone.  The post office closed back in the winter.  What is left in Cripple Creek is gorgeous National Forest land, whimsical Victorian homes and 1930's bungalows, and the Cripple Creek Grocery.  Word is, they have a festival here every year.  Too bad I have plans.

For krusig, who was probably missing all my -ification jokes.



Inspiration!



Gratification!

3 pints went into jam, 7 went into the freezer, 2 went into Mike and me.

One thing I knew in advance about having a baby was that I needed to cut myself some slack.  I'm known to be super-productive and accomplish six impossible things before breakfast, so slowing down  can be a challenge.  From reading Tammy's post about baby preparation, I knew it would be good to have lots of food in the freezer for the first couple months of pregnancy and plan to do the same in the last month so we can just thaw, heat, and eat when the baby comes.  I also learned to keep my expectations low so that I wouldn't feel like a sloth when I didn't have the energy to do much besides sleep.

In the glowing, clear-skinned, sunny days of the second trimester I feel fabulous most of the time.  But one thing is clear--I'm not the wonder woman I once was.  I can walk and walk, most days.  I can do a good number of chores, most days.  However, I get tired faster and have come to enjoy the simple pleasure of the couch with my feet up. 

I'm still learning not to beat myself up about not doing lots and sewing lots for the shop.  I have five dozen napkins cut out in great vintage prints and only six have been hemmed. :-(  Knitting is going super slow--I've been on the same bib for weeks.  In the mornings, I have stolen moments to sit at the machine and work.  Mornings seem to be the most peaceful here.  I have my granola and read Ina May's Guide to Childbirth.  Which I am LOVING, by the way.  Thanks for the recommendation, Tammy! 

I must learn that I have a season pass to life.  I've got 75 good years left to live and I mustn't rush to the finish line.  The deliberate journey is always the most rewarding.  At least for me.

Yes, we found ferns.  Five or six different types in various stages of unfurling.



And a good number of morels, which are always something to behold.



Maybe we'll see more at the Mount Rogers Naturalist Rally.

Some people tell me I don't look pregnant.  Others say "Wow!  You're pregnant!"  You decide.  ;-)

         
   

Last year was a stellar year for my columbine plants and I harvested many seeds.  Some of you participated in my giveaway, but if you didn't get the chance I now have my lovely handmade packets available over at the Fiber Frolic.  Columbine grows so well and the flowers make a beautiful addition to the dinner table.  Soon, after I jam some strawberries, I'll have dozens of new napkins in fun prints available.  Stay tuned!

   

And Monday starts on Sunday when your husband reaches critical grease mass on Kentucky Fried Chicken.  That's all I'm going to say.  I needed a laugh and somehow found this.  You will laugh.  LOTS.

I needed that.

For Blue Mountain Mama, who needs more pregnancy photos.   It's funny that I seem to be seen in this dress rather a lot, here and there.  A little narcissism on a Springy Friday afternoon. ;-)

Happy Weekend!!

Last week I left the first trimester in the dust.  No kind of waiting in my life has been like this kind.  Each week I tick off days, at a job I'm not so thrilled about and with a baby I'm so very excited about.  When I was engaged to Mike, I knew what I was getting into and there wasn't a big physical transition--just a wedding on the Appalachian Trail.  We'll find out whether the baby is a boy or a girl in five weeks.  Five whole weeks.  Oh, my.

I'm so glad to be a third of the way there.  I went shopping, yes, SHOPPING last week and bought some maternity clothes.  I actually set foot in a mall.  Mom had gotten me some things earlier in the week, but I needed some tops.  This was quickly becoming apparent.  Now I have a good mix of dresses I've made for hot days, pants for cool days and even a skirt for whenever.  It's funny to have new clothes or really, clothes that aren't stained with bacon grease.

I'm so glad to be in the happy go-lucky second trimester where my appetite, skin and energy are more normal.  After days of dreaming I had to clean up my old bedroom at my parents' house, I finally got some things done around here.  Beyond the normal routine, what a relief.  Last week I finished the mittens and hat and I can't wait until I have a little person to wear them.  Well, I can wait, but you know.  There is no waiting like baby waiting.  Bigger and closer every day. . .

You know how my profile says I don't have cable TV? 

Well, I do now.  Last month our evil cable internet provider (known on the outside as "Comcast") sent us a love letter.  They told us how wonderful we'd been, how much they loved serving us, and how they were going to raise our bill sixteen dollars because we weren't buying cable.  Since we were so very, very special to them, they'd offer us fourteen basic channels for just five bucks extra--saving us eleven dollars a month.

Hmmmm. . .

So, Mike made many phone calls and personal appearances at the local office and now we have our cable for five bucks.  Got it a couple of weeks ago.  Except, we have like forty channels or ever how many they give you.  We didn't get the basic cable; we got the full-blown cable.  And it's not my fault.

With the first trimester still fresh on my mind and plenty of cloudy, cool days in the forecast, it's been mighty easy to settle into an evening of Food Network.  This assures me that I will see no violence, nudity or distasteful behavior.  I might get emotional when Paula Deen talks about her grandma, but that's okay.  Occasionally I deviate to the Travel Channel or HGTV (whatever that stands for).  It's only after I've done my chores and tidied the house, but I still feel guilty. 

I do mute all the commercials.  Sigh.

I've got to do better.  Not for anybody that's watching, but for me.  Our time without the cable was very nice and I don't want to lose that.  It is some sort of self-inflicted chastity, but it was rather fun to be out of the loop about movies and commercials that were "just so hillarious."  I never bought anything from those ads anyway--I don't think there's any such thing as a Sucanat commercial or an ad for corn meal.

Tonight will be better.  After all, I'm viewing for two.

For more on TV's and your second (or third or fourth viewer) check out No Impact Man.

Yesterday was our annual field trip with the Friends.  This time we concentrated on the areas along the Creeper Trail and Beartree Recreation Area, where I gave some of the best years of my life. Here are some scenes from the trip:



A yellow violet.  Anna?  What kind?



A hemlock tree marked for treatment.  Sara the Ranger says that the Mount Rogers area will have two places of treatment to save the trees--Hurricane Campground and Beartree Recreation Area.



Fresh beaver activity.



The first fiddle heads I've seen--bracken ferns, I've believe. 



After Beartree, we went over to Green Cove station and then down to Taylor's Valley for lunch, where I was very gluttonous with the ketchup. ;-)

Just a friendly reminder:



To enjoy the lush abundance of our natural world. . .



To look for pockets of beauty hidden among the leaves. . .



To take pleasure in singular moments along life's trail. . .



And to keep your walking slow and deliberate, moving ever forward to a better tomorrow.


Photos from last Spring at the cabin. :-)

We're fluctuating between cold and warm around here.  Some days are so glorious I can't ever imagine why I hated Spring and then some days are so damp and chilly, I feel like a melancholy teenager again.  I'm thankful for the rain, ever thankful for each drop that falls.  Last Summer taught the lesson that we should never, never look down on rainy days--or at least not in the new climate change Appalachia.  Some places have too much, I know, and that is the way of it now that weather is crazy.

Mike planted the blueberries yesterday while I sewed on a big order for the etsy shop.  We planned for them to grow big and left plenty of room for me to pick the berries (since Mike said it would be my job).  He also planted some broccoli and a few of the onions I started from seed.  We hope to get to work on some new raised beds today.

The bleeding hearts are very impressive this year and mikecnichols has taken some great pictures of them and posted them on flickr, so go eat them up.  They've always been among my favorites.

Off to the cabin for some time of rest and reflection. . .

Carrie and I made three batches of soap last night: Lime-Lemon-Orange (to be named something witty later--suggestions welcome); Peppermint-Tea Tree Oil; and Rose.  Since Mike is partial, there are only photos of me, thoroughly covered and bulgy.  Trust me when I say that Carrie is a very cute, energetic, non-pregnant version of me--thirty five years down the road. ;-)



Loads of stirring.  Carrie's stick blender made it much faster.



Main ingredients: Lye, water, coconut oil, palm oil, olive oil, castor oil.  Oh yeah, and gloves and bulge.



Essential oil time.  And bulge time.  Can you tell I'm proud?  Someone actually asked me if I'm expecting today!

The soap is all snuggly under cover and Carrie is going to cut it today.  In a month, it will be cured and safe for even the most sensitive of skin.  We plan to make baby soap, too, when the Calendula crop comes in. :-)

First up: the very first knitted items for the baby.  A green pixie hat to match mine and little tiny mittens to keep those itty bitty fingers warm.  These will go wonderfully with the Christmas sleeper.  :-)



I worked on this while we went to Roanoke with Mike's parents.  We had a great time there.  We ate at Tong Thai again and it was fabulous, again.  We browsed the farmers' market and I picked up some fresh eggs, new potatoes, and English peas.  I got some seeds for mom and Mike and I enjoyed doughnuts cooked right on the street!  Too bad wetkneefarm wasn't there. ;-)



When we got home, I set to shelling the peas on the front porch.  The weather was warm and sunny, but the wind was violent.  No two ways about it.  I worked for awhile and began to fear for my safety and went in!  We enjoyed the peas and new potatoes on Sunday for lunch.  It had been so long since I had them creamed together.  Yum!

Lots to do tonight--tidying up the house from a visit that took two days to recover from.  That's WIP you won't be seeing a photo of! :-D

I haven't been posting much, still, and it's not like things haven't been moving forward around here.  After all, I did finish the socks and I have managed to cook supper almost every night this week.  And I have managed to grow a baby about three inches long, all the while looking rather un-expecting.  Yup, no weight gain over at the Blackberry Bungalow.  My tummy sticks out much more than it did, or should I say, much more than I'm used to.  Observe: Brandy cooks bacon, at right.

Most of my clothes that are fitted, don't fit.  However, I'm still getting the "You're so tiny," and "You had the flattest stomach," remarks.  Okay, where were these people before?  Why is it that women say the opposite of what you want?  Like, you should tell your girl friends how great they look, any time they look great.  Maybe I'm a little moody with the hormones, I don't know. 

Here's a note for all the people who may come in contact with an expectant mother (who is, by the way, already a mother since she's the only human in charge of the baby she's growing): Tell her she's got an adorable tummy, even if it is flat as a pancake (mine is NOT).  Tell her you're so happy for her and ask OFTEN how she is.  Don't tell her how you didn't ever look pregnant until you were ready to deliver.  She wants to look pregnant, but not swollen and waddly, so never bring that up.  Being pregnant is about 50% hard emotional work.  It takes a lot to get your head around the idea you've got a baby inside you and even more to decide what to make for dinner. 

Well, maybe not about the dinner, but sometimes it feels that way.  So here's my manifesto.  I promise, Anna, there is more to life right now.  It just seems to be hiding behind my fabulous abs.

Another week, another dress.  Last week I finished a fair number of napkins and hankies for the shop and made another dress for me.  The dress set me back all of about eight dollars.  I've really been getting along with the sewing machine lately and even zippers are getting easier.  I've also gotten most of my energy back, which is good, since Spring brings lots to do.

The onions are growing well in the basement.  The broccoli and tomatoes need to be re-potted and everything else will wait until we've built the additional raised beds.  A neighbor gave us red raspberries and thornless blackberries, so Mike planted them last night along side our black raspberries.  The early season blueberry has started to bloom, but none of the plants are in the ground yet.  I've put them outside, in hopes of getting the flowering one pollinated.  It's a good thing I've waited because it's predicted to snow and freeze this weekend!  Good thing we save all our bits of fabric and boxes from last year.  My bleeding hearts are starting to bloom, so I have to be careful of them.

I've said before that I like to work for fun and it seems I've finally found some like minds.  I saw Better Off on a list of "What I'm Reading" on someone's blog and I was struck by the concept of flipping the proverbial switch.  I found it at the library and devoured it in a few days.

Eric Brende was a student at MIT when he started to wonder just how much technology was enough for human function and productivity.  When he became a graduate student in their science and technology department, he spent a year doing research for his thesis.  His project?  Take himself and his new wife off to the Heartland to a community so advanced it made the Amish look strikingly 21st century.

He won't disclose the location or exact religious sect (somewhere between Amish & Mennonite) of the community, but prefers to call the folks there "Minimites," getting by on the minimum technology required for happy productive lives.  There's no phone, no lights, no motor cars, no motorized anything.  He expects to meet super hard core folks who work themselves to the bone, but instead find people united in the idea of taking joy in work.  They get together in the pretext of laboring (hoeing, plowing, barn-raising, threshing) but spend about half the time in leisure and fellowship.  And they are remarkably productive folks!

He introduces us to the people of the community, some of the workings of their church, and the impressive ability they all have of learning to accept each other's differences.  The folks manage to raise cash crops, provide for themselves, and stay out of debt.  Of course, when you're not buying the next motorized this or that for the farm, funds are much easier to hold onto.  One of the most impressive things to me, and something I'd like to duplicate, is the sense of community work--folks getting together to hoe another's garden, stopping in to help at opportune times, sharing tasks that seem mundane by adding a social component.  He found time went much faster when there was chatting along the way.

During his time in the Minimite community, Eric Brende's wife becomes pregnant.  They choose to have a home birth with a Minimite midwife.  Interestingly, he said the most dangerous part was when he drove to get the doctor in his old Ford Escort (the Brende's kept their car).  They stay another six or more months after the baby comes.

While they ultimately left the Minimites when the project was over, the Brende's kept many of the techniques they learned in their time there.  They mow the yard with a manual mower, school the children at home, do not own a computer and spend lots of time walking.  At one point, though I'm not sure now, Eric even had a rickshaw business ferrying people around town.

Upon further reflection, I was really impressed by this book and the community.  In my ideal Appalachia, I'd live in a place like this.  Of course, maybe we'd have a few solar panels so Mike could play his records. . .

Behold!  Only two and a half months start to finish. Now it's time to start churning out matching baby socks. :-)  Well, after I sew some more napkins and hankies--you guys were the best!  Half my inventory gone in two days!!  I truly have my work cut out for me.  All over the bed in the craft room. :-D