There will be mud

When the child wakes up and is raring to go before 6am, it's always a long day.  I know I will be exhausted by the end but there is not much I can do but muddle on through.

We spent the morning on the island exploring the beach and picking raspberries from the trail.  We traveled by trike.  Highlights included watching a backhoe remove some old cement and finding a few hermit crabs in tide pools along with meeting a kind kayaking family with a big shaggy black dog named remedy. 

Lunch was early as I was starving and then my little guy marched right into bed declaring "nap."  He went down in a flash and I decided what the heck, I'll have a soak in the mini hot tub.  Very relaxing and marvelous.  I wouldn't mention but it makes the afternoon activity more funny.

After nap it was time to drop off some of moms old stuff at goodwill and check out the local playground. Whew what a lot of cool things to do there!! I am sure I'll be back and maybe take photos but maybe not because it was all I could do to spot my adventuring climbaholic.  When we saw some kids scramble up a near by stream I knew that would be our next stop.  While it was uneven and rocky as the cold water curved back and forth down a steep bank, I thought well this is why we are wearing water shoes.  Together we ventured up that stream stomping along and climbing rocks.  When we got to the top and saw the exit was more then 10 feet up a muddy bank I definitely thought I had made a mistake.  The little eyes looked up at me and I said,"you wanted to be a big boy! C'mon, we can do this!" There were no hand holds or trees growing, just slick clay up up up.  And half way up we slipped and slid down several feet on our stomachs.  My dear one began to cry and my dress and legs were covered it mud. "It's ok buddy, mom fell too, we will just have to rest and try again."  He stopped crying as I held him and held my shoes like is asked him to.  I scrambled up that bank with my clinging little guy, humbled by his misfortune.  We came out of the weeds triumphant and got many looks from the other park patrons.  We were really covered in mud but I felt satisfied that we had really done something together and I let Owen be brave enough to climb a stream without knowing how we'd get out.  This is childhood, trial and error.  It's thrilling to let life have some question marks and get a little (or a lot) muddy.

Fridays: farmers market

Hooray for Friday, belfast maines farmers market day! Can't wait to visit and pick up some local meat, don't need any veggies- the fridge is stuffed with those!  Also we will check out the library today and maybe meet some little ones, would be fun to have some play dates or just learn about the toddler goings on here.  Excited for a great day!

Morning at the farm

When my mothers friend invited us to visit her garden I expected to visit a garden, what we visited was a farm! Blueberry bushes and raspberry bushes hanging heavy with fruit.  Cucumbers and zucchini just begging to be picked.  Fire wood stacked here.  Saplings growing there.  Sunflowers on thick stalks ready to burst.  It was magical and heaven for any wanna be Gardener like me.

But that's not the best part!  I was told that we were going to let my little guys "feed the fish."  I will admit right now my suburbanites mind pictured a coy pond in the corner of a manicured yard and my son sprinkling in some store bought fish food. Oh no, that was far from the experience we had! The pond was big and had a tiny dock with old wagon wheels on one end.  First we had to dig. Why did we dig? To get worms of course!  With some wigglers in the bucket down to the pond we went and I was skeptical.  Shame on me! Those fish came to gobble each worm dropped in such a frenzy it was thrilling! What a good time we had.  Sorry worms, but as I was told "that's life on the farm!"

In the afternoon we played at the beach and then I made dinner of pork tenderloin and all those veggies gifted to us- summer squash and zucchini and green beans, plus beet greens and lettuce in a salad.

A moment in between

It's my second morning waking up in my mothers home in Maine.  I have decided to use my long forgotton blog to journal my trip.  I think perhaps I can jot a note or two during nap time or at other moments in between the busy-ness of the day.

Yesterday when I got up with my little one (who at 19 m is really only little in relativity but is actually big in many ways) we ended up going for a walk barefoot with grandma.  I think we were all excited to be together in this calm and cool place, surrounded by beauty but most importantly OUT of the car.  The previous evenings trip left us all weary and drained.

Then I made bacon and scrambled eggs for breakfast in my moms old cast iron skillet that I am just in love with.  New ones just aren't as good.

The rest of the day was equally simple.  We saw a garter snake in the driveway, a backhoe on the island, waded at the beach, and did some grocery shopping.  I even got a shower in and I am already feeling recharged and relaxed after one day. What a great feeling!

Cherishing moments can be a tall order when there is always so much to do.  Diapers, meals, social obligations.  Today and yesterday I was wondering about those times when you get "trapped" by your child who has fallen asleep and you want to "sneak out" and "get something done." I try my best to talk myself out of leaving, hoping he will just roll over eventually and that means I can go but that I should stay in that moment as long as I can.  And that everytime he wants me to carry him I should because the time I can carry him is so short.  It is impossible to keep these lofty ideals of stopping the world constantly, but it's important to me that I do it some times.  The rest of the time I think to myself, " I gotta get out of here... Should I move away slow like a glacier or rip myself off quick like a bandaid??"

Leftovers Lorna-style

I am not great at eating the same thing twice in a row.  Sometimes I do, but mostly I like to change it up.  This is easy to do when you have great ingredients on hand. A left over chicken leg became a venue for fresh basil and tomato with some quinoa and a couple of beans left from my earlier visit to the antipasti bar at wholefoods, and voila: a brand new lovely and flavorful dish.  I ate it with a salad to my delight.

Grilled chicken with zucchini & peppers

When buying chicken straight from the person who raised it, you most likely aren't going to get a lot of choices. There is no creature that grows four boneless skinless breasts or thighs.  This packaging abstracts us from the source of our food: an animal, and to a certain extent babies our cooking skills. My chicken options are: half or whole and it comes frozen. I usually opt for halves because the defrosting is much faster.  At first making the transition to dealing with bones and skin totally threw me. I was pampered by packaged meats.  Through experimentation and research I have learned how to quarter a chicken and also spatchcock which removes the backbone. One cannot be squeamish when performing these tasks and it makes me face my food. There is no abstraction, I am eating a creature. I think that's good. I think everyone should face the reality of their diet if they chose to eat meat.

This chicken was marinaded with garlic, hoisin, and toasted sesame oil and grilled on aluminum foil.  I made greens in little aluminum foil packets and mixed some sautéed fava beans with garlic scapes into some quinoa for fun.  Fava beans and scapes being a new food for us.  Great meal!

Survived the Six month checkup

My little guy is weighing in at 20 pounds and supposedly on track to be over 6 feet tall.  My goodness!  He is growing well and was had a great time crawling around the examination table.  He cried a bit when he got his shot but recovered well.  Unfortunately, he has had some side effects from the shot, namely restlessness through the night that has left us both very tired. 

Grabbing is getting to be his favorite past time.  Nursing on the couch yesterday, he suddenly was eating the remote and today I found myself wearing my morning tea.  The lesson is: mama must be very careful with what goes on the shelf behind the couch, as in nothing is safe from Reachy McGrabsalot. No problem, I can do that.

Mobility is also blowing my mind.  He is not crawling exactly but can turn and turn and scoot where ever he wants to go. Backwards is also a favorite direction.  When the motivation is there, he's determined to get there. It's entrancing to watch him explore his world.  I love every moment.