Not Lazy, maybe a little Hazy, but definitely super Crazy Days of Summer at the Bit-o-Earth!

I don't know where I ever got the idea that

summer should be
Lazy or Hazy...
but mine certainly is Crazy so far

This past week my sister-in-law, niece
and their best friends have been at our house.

What did we do?

EAT
TALK
EAT
TALK
CAN APRICOTS


EAT
TALK
And a little SLEEP

They have never learned to can fruit,
and asked me to teach them.


I have done it most of my life,
so it was an easy "yes"



We have a blast

It was a ton of work



but mostly it was girl time,
and I loved that~

My sister-in-law (Stefany) is going through her first
"empty nest" experience,
as my niece just graduated from high school
and is headed off to college this fall.

Stef's best friend (Carol),
just married off her eldest son,
and
is sending her youngest (Haley) off to college
this fall
and will have a truly empty nest
for the first time in her life.

Both are suffering the beginning effects of "that time of life"

ME?

I've been there with all of the above,
so my job was to assure them
that all turns out well.

The heart breaks
and is sad

but then life moves along
grandbabies join the nest
and life is good again!

(:

I like my job



So this week,
we head up to "the ranch."

A lovely place with tall pine trees,
warm summer days,
mountain weather,
and best of all,
my parents~

Its our annual Family Reunion

Each year my parents,
siblings
all the grandchildren,
and now the great-grandchildren

join together to celebrate being "FAMILY"

My mother is the hub of the wheel of family
We are the spokes,
and we all revolve around her capable hands and heart.

She has American Indian blood that runs deep in her veins,
and has raised us kids learning their ways.

She's deeply spiritual

She has given each of us an Indian name
and a symbol that goes with that name


My father bought her a huge tepee,
which we have painted with all those symbols,
and our hand prints beside each.
Last summer
Aiden and Ashton were added
OH HOW they LOVED that!



At the top of the front of the tepee
fly two beautiful American Bald Eagles
that represent my parents

but they've never been given Indian Names
so this year my siblings and I have chosen names for them
and will present them in a special ceremony.
I don't want to share them here,
in case she peeks at my blog (:

(We always document it with video, photos and writings,
so maybe I can post about it later)

Shawnee is her tribe
Their names will be given in English
as well as the native Algonquain language



I hope you're all having a wonderful summer
dear Blog Friends!
I'll be gone for a little while,
but back soon to catch up with all of you~

Happy Father's Day to my Men!

~Happy Father's Day~

There are many men in my life
Ones who I love and admire very much

There are uncles, brothers and brothers-in-law

But the men I'll focus on here

are

My Father
Happy Father's Day Dad!
I love you

My sissy and I
with our Grandpa and Daddy

Me and my Dad & Mom

My parents with Baby Max,
the newest addition to a fast growing family

To my Dear Sweet Husband
Happy Father's Day Honey
I love you!

This is my favorite picture of Hubby and his boys!

It says it all...

A loving, totally involving, funny, happy Father
He changed as many diapers as I did
He cooks and does dishes
He was there every day in every little way
as the boys were growing up,
in their adult lives now,
and now with his grandchildren!




To my oldest Son
Happy Father's Day Son
I love you!

With Miss Sophia


and now with Baby Matz
(Sophie's pronounciation)
He LOOOOOOOVES his Daddy!


Our little Sophia
She LOOOOOOOOVES her Daddy too!

Our oldest son...
All I can say is,

~Like Father - Like Son~

What I wrote above about his Daddy,
our son is all the same things

And I'm so proud!




This image reminds me of our family on almost every trip we took!
The expressions just about perfectly matched ours
LOL!


I love this image of a Dad and his girl

I found these images at
http://vintageholidaycrafts.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Also, I want to give credit where it's due,
and forgot to when I put up the last post...
The title of my post, "Roots, Shoots, Buckets and Boots"
came from a book by the same title
by Sharon Lovejoy

Roots, Shoots, Buckets & Boots

Its a busy time at my bit of earth.

Its the time of year I relish.

I know I say this at the beginning of every season,
but really,
this IS my favorite time of year!

I can honestly say that I just loooooove dragging out
all the recipes, canning jars, kettles and pots...

and that I just LOOOOOVE
how my shelves look after its all done


...when the rose buds have been dried for winter pot pourri

the peas, corn and so much more are in the freezer

It takes an entire season (100 - 120 days)
jammed packed full
of bending, digging, shoveling,
raking, dry hands, dirty knees,
cricks and crinks in the joints...

...and It takes time to make sure the plants have
everything they need to grow healthy and strong

But I love it.
It keeps me moving
It makes be feel stronger

I'd keep a garden

...just to be able to look at it each day

...just to spend the days out in the sun and fresh air

...just to watch the small creatures it attracts
(even the ones I have to shoo away)

...just for the physical exercise it forces me to exert

...just for the satisfaction of seeing my shelves
all neatly lined with pretty jars filled with food

...just for the satisfaction of sipping the chamomile tea
I had coddled from from seed to flower

I'll keep a garden until the day I can't move

...and then I'll dream about growing a garden

My garden is my little bit of heaven on earth.
Its the best place to calm my stressed-out brain and body.
Out there is where I meditate
...and sometimes not on purpose at all.

It just happens.

It may sound strange,
but out there is where I feel I "belong"

...to something bigger than myself

...to some ancient part of what it is to be human

...to something we've lost

...and to something I need to find again

I love the feel of roots

the look of shoots

The necessity of buckets

and the comfort of my OLD Wellie boots

And one day I hope I can pass this love on to someone else

Will it be Sophia?

or little Max?

or someone I've yet to meet?

or even one of my boys?

I don't know yet...
but I can't wait to find out!

Big Hearts, Helping Hands

Today started as a normal day, but ended up being quite extraordinary...

We headed down the road to the beach for a walk. When we walked onto the beach we noticed a family with two dogs standing near a small black figure (Dad with the two dogs are just out of picture).



It turned out to be a sea bird who was obviously in trouble. He couldn't walk or fly and was trying to escape the waves as they came in.


The family was concerned for the small bird, as were we. They called 911 to get help for the little guy. Though the operator told them who to call, there was no answer at the number they were given. Some people might have shrugged their shoulders and given up trying to help... but not this family.


We offered to go get our car and find the number for the local animal rescue, while they stayed with the bird.

We met one of our neighbors who offered for me to come into her house and call, while hubby went for the car. She knew who to call... Native Animal Rescue (NAR) in Santa Cruz, CA.

When we arrived back at the beach, true to their word, the whole family and two dogs were waiting patiently with the bird.

Thank goodness for big hearts and helping hands! It was great to meet some fellow animal lovers!

Hubby inspects his underside to check for any obvious injuries, but none could be seen. He didn't like the idea too well, as you can see.

Isn't he handsome?!

We loaded the little guy into a box and were off to the Animal Rescue. Our neighbor is an Anthropologist and college instructor who thought he was a Surf Scoter, which is in essence a type of sea duck... as it turns out, she was right.

On the way to the Rescue, Hubby dubbed him "Scooter."

Scooter did fine on the ride (though he added a lovely odor to the car), and now he will be well taken care of.

When he arrived at NAR he did a little hissing at first, but settled down once he was transferred to a new box.

I think he knew he was in good hands!

Supper perhaps?

I want to thank Native Animal Rescue (NAR) in Santa Cruz, CA,
and give them a little notice!

NAR is a non-profit organization whose motto is:

"Animals first! Because no life is too small to save!"

And if you go to their website you can see the many little critters they've saved, rehabilitated and returned to their wild homes

...as well as read a few stories of survival and success.

There are so many unsung heros at NAR!

They depend almost solely on donations,
and true to their motto, they save many many tiny lives!

Donations can be made online or by mail:

You can donate online, using PayPal

HERE

Or mail to:

Native Animal Rescue
P.O. Box 1001
Santa Cruz, CA 95061-1001

Email: eveandfrank@baymoon.com

Scooter is a Surf Scoter

General Adult Description

• Stocky diving duck.
• Black.
• No white in wings.
• Male all black with swollen yellow or orange knob at base of bill.
• Female blackish with large whitish face patch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm such a bleeding heart for animals!

We need eachother,

but its we humans who
can and should take the initiative
to care for our furred, feathered and scaled friends.

~Thanks to all the animals lovers who are
currently helping to save many sea animals
at the oil spill area in the Gulf of Mexico~