we are back from sonoma county. sigh. i have lovely photos of absolutely delicious, locally grown/produced, organic food and farms and beaches, etc. that i will post a different day when i can conjure up a few more moments for myself on the computer, but i will just say that it was truly awesome and refreshing and lovely (a bit cold - already??? - but still) and fun (most of the time) to spend such intimate time together up north in a place that is so connected with the land and where our food comes from - in an organic, locally grown sense. that's how it all works out in my head, anyway. i think the kids' favorite part was the beach with all the driftwood (and the cheap wooden airplanes we got at willow wood cafe that flew for an hour) and the sticky buns we ate at wildflour bakery and the giant sunflower garden right next door that we wandered in for 45 minutes pretending we were in a magical forest and the snowbunny organic frozen yogurt made from straus nonfat milk with miniature peanut butter cups on top that we got in healdsburg and the jumpy in the park that followed the frozen yogurt. they weren't exactly thrilled with all the driving around and the houses we inevitably dragged them around to look at, like we do every time we drive up there, conjuring up visions of a life lived in the country, that's really not accessible to us, at the moment, much as we might like for it to be, (there are a lot of commas in this sentence - i don't know how that happened), but they were good sports about it. great, actually.
now we are back and i am immersed in the yard project again, researching edible landscaping and native plants and sustainable solutions and the latest drip irrigation systems, etc. very exciting, but also quite frustrating and overwhelming at times, but not so much as it was two months ago. all those trips to the library have begun to pay off, as i am finally narrowing things down, which is saying a lot, for me. plus, i had a lovely meeting with a gentleman from the city of santa monica's environmental programs division today, who was coming over to fine me for water run-off coming from a pipe in my property that's been there since we bought the house, oh, 8-9 years ago. a discharge pipe for the air-conditioning, but apparently all the drains in our hardscaped back yard run into it as well. oops. anyhoo, too much water running into the alleyway, darn it. apparently the gardeners who originally installed our "drip" system 6-7 years ago, put in something that floods the plants too fast (and the timer is set for too long) and thus excess water is leaking out the bottom of our planters, etc. i'm so ashamed. apparently it's quite common. most people have no idea their timers or sprinklers or what have you are over-watering their plants. and the run-off traveling down the alley and into the gutters as carrying oil and god-knows-what-else right into santa monica bay, so it is a real "no-no". there are all kinds of solutions to this, which they list on their website here. i care and i'm dealing with it, so santa moonica's not going to fine me (thank you, thank you). it all falls in line with what i was trying to do anyway, which is to turn the yard into all edibles and natives and to make it all function as efficiently as possible. i really do want to be a part of the solution.
that's one thing on my plate.
the other is that i have piles and piles of yarn and fabric and tools and equipment in every corner of my studio, on the floor and on table tops, screaming for shelves, screaming to be organized so that i can function in here, once school starts up, and begin producing things again for my little shoppe. everything is staring at me right now as i type and all i can do is stare back and shrug my shoulders, for the moment. but at least my studio is a lovely new shade of robin's egg blue. i love it. it makes me sooooo happy!
and finally...
today i started taking gaba. it's one of the "natural" remedies that was prescribed to me by the psychiatrist who reviewed my brain scan last week (i voted for "natural" remedies over other medecine to help me deal with my ADD). it is supposed to help with anxiety and irritability. i'm intrigued. i will let you know how it goes. it's just one of the many things that was recommended. there were also vitamins and dietary suggestions and exercise, etc. i realize i haven't posted a follow-up to all those brain scans i had. i will. i just truly haven't had time.
i hope everyone is enjoying the last remaining days of their summer vacation. it is bittersweet for me and all tangled up with everything we are working on at our house, which keeps us constantly preoccupied, but i still feel it, these lingering moments that are already almost like pictures in my mind of my children, smiling, laughing, playing and about to enter kindergarten and second grade for the first time. and it's beautiful.
