It has been a little tumultuous with Hurricane Arthur blowing up the coast – but today is bright and sunny.
We are grateful for Food, Friends and Fireworks… Come Fourth! Continue reading
Come Fourth! Food, friends and fireworks…
A piece of cake and a slice of pie.
Entwined Garden it is a Cake—a sheet cake—large and cut into sections. The house designed by my engineer husband Phil is on an east west axis back to front and north to south. On the Solstices we have light streaming in across the floors… it is always a celebration!
Facing West
The gardens evolved as therapy for my soul in the long years of construction—I needed color against the red clay and sense of purpose—fluid swaths to soften the edges—frosting on the cake.
Entwined Garden South
It is there I always know where I am and what direction I am facing. Continue reading
Message Sent
A loud CRASH breaking the silence, followed by raining shards of glass hit the parquet floor, my polish grandfather had crafted.
Scrambling up the stairs, a jagged gaping hole through the window pane in the living room. Icy Chicago winter air curling around us. My grandmother now frozen in disbelief, tears running down her round cheeks.
Inching closer to the grenade, I reached for the large hunk of black coal wrapped in brown butcher’s paper, tied with string.
The scribbled lettering said “Get out polack, if you know what is good for you.”
Now my whole body was trembling. Should I translate the words to Busia?
Her head now shaking uncontrollably, left to right, left to right, as she dabbed the tears with her flour covered apron, she understood the message that pierced her core, that pierced her view of the prairie.
Would she stay or would she leave the home in the land of the free, she escaped to at a mere sixteen, risking everything. This home she built with her husband to raised her six children?
She needed no translation.
Gratitude from down under
I awoke early—it was Saturday—the second one in March, in anticipation of a spring-like day. With the weather report crisp and a “to do list” a mile long, a whole glorious day planned in the garden to quench the cabin fever of a relentless winter.
There was something in the air.
Still under warm covers, I opened my eyes to the world through my I-Pad. A Word Press notification introduced me to a wonderful story by a writer in Australia, Deb Hunt, a blog titled Snap Decision about gardening and loss of her Mum. Something I know all to well.
Next I perused GRATITUDE—which so inspired me. Gratitude from down under. Continue reading
Growing loss
This time of year, I long for the Cherry trees. White blossoms tinged with hint of pink in March, a sweetly scented confection, attracting all sorts of bees to a drunken pollen orgy. Often their legs so full of pollen, they cling to the branches lazing in the successful harvest as if dead to the world.
April brings a snow flurry of petals, lazily drifting down covering paths & driveway, exquisite organic snowflakes that melt as quickly under the warm spring sun. The leaves now emerging large, soaking up sun and rain, camouflaging shelter for birds.
Next emerge the delightful bulging fruits, in an array of Spring Greens as the begin to plump. The chatter of baby birds fledging… Flying here & there following their parents’ calls.
May oh, sweet May, fruits change from green to pink to deep dark plump red jewels glistening in the sun.
Robins, summer tanagers, bluebirds, cardinals, grosbeaks, jays, mockingbirds, and woodpeckers flock to snatch a fruit, or snack on insects attracted by the bounty.
When my future husband found the 7 acre wooded property back in 1983, there was a clearing in the woods with 3 Cherry trees in bloom. A shaft of light hitting them like a message from God “Thou shall build your home here!” And so he did.
He designed the house & garage around those Cherries.
For years, he & his young daughter picked cherries every Memorial Day weekend. The bucket of the large Green John Deere would be fitted with a seat, with a seat belt, and up, up Katherine would be lifted with a bucket to harvest, giggling with delight.
Other years when I joined the family our vintage red pickup would be backed up to the hill and ladders lashed securely to climb up to into the canopy. Buckets and buckets of cherries would be harvested.
These Cherries were not sweet like Bings sold in groceries stores… These were a tart variety. Freshly baked pies with lattice tops were made, dusted with cinnamon sugar. Pies, or tarts, or cobblers and buckets of cherries in cute blue plastic pails would be delivered to lucky friends and neighbors.
Cherries would be pitted, then frozen for a taste of Spring later in the year or made into creamy Cherry ice cream.
Slowly the trees began their decline. Life expectancy is only 20 to 25 years. One by one the were removed as the remaining tree languished!
I miss those trees at Entwined Gardens. I miss the anticipation, the picking, pitting, baking & sharing. Most of all, I miss Katherine’s excitement of bringing new friends over well into her twenties to share the joys of picking cherries.
Music for a Moment… Music for Life
Music for a Moment—Violin with Heartstrings
There is a piece of music that tugs at my heartstrings, every time I hear it on Pandora. I know not what it is, but the violin is so melancholy and heartfelt that I must say it is my favorite.
To hear that music makes me pause, it speaks to my soul. Perhaps, I will pay attention and find out what it is next time. Yet, I rather think the randomness of hearing it without hitting a play button—makes it ever so much more meaningful—bittersweet and otherworldly.
It is the one piece of music that is not a “soundtrack to my life.”
I love it for the pureness of the sound and passion in the playing. I am grateful for the randomness!
Music for the Past—”Viva La Vida” Cold Play
The driving upbeat sound “I used to rule the world…” turn it up!
Way UP!
I love to play this in the morning—Play it loud—Get up and dance around! It motivates me to clear the decks and start a new project. I feel like my younger self again—in a time where I made a difference every day. It was fun solving problems being empowered.
That was then, this is now.
For me it was the overthrow of a company—I had no part in it. Shaking hands with the orchestrator of the ruse for the first time—made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. There was no stopping what had been set in motion. He wiped out a company and with it, hundreds of jobs.
A man’s life work—a body of work—sucked down the drain and those of us with it.
Yes, there are fond memories and all the good we did for a town, yes, we were creating jobs… but those jobs for the greedy meant nothing—only their gain and a hefty Swiss bank account or two.
I also think of that photo of Saddam Hussein in his undershirt unshaven hiding … what we do to other people… He was a pawn of our government. We set him up. We took him out.
But today I choose to dance for myself.
That was then, this is NOW!
Live the life!
Music for Life
“Tapestry“ by Carole King
A song from my past—a music for my life— from early beginnings a fascination of textiles of things Entwined—music for life.
A life of ups and downs but always creating new lines of pattern, moving forward, creatively living, sometimes the edges are a little frayed but they can be fixed or just appreciated with time. Color excites me. Color soothes me. Fabric evokes such rich memories of family—sitting at my grandmother’s feet learning to stitch, rhythms of up and down, up and down—sometimes having to pull out and begin again—creating patterns, creating texture, creating things.
Lessons learned of up and down and redoing until you get it right, at least satisfied.
Up and down—a grandmother’s smile—a touch, a skill for a life of lessons—living, learning, creating, sharing—an Entwined Life. Always staying busy, up and down.
What Music gets your juices flowing?
View
The plane circled, making its ascent—my face fused to the glass. The patchwork of colors changed from bright greens and yellows and browns to muted versions of this spectrum—then a tapestry an ombré of browns.
Approaching Marrakesh the landscape turned into a rich oasis of greens. In my head swirled the lyrics of Crosby Stills and Nash’s song Marrakesh Express watching the view unfold.
Then just as quickly the beautiful peaks of the High Atlas Mountains were under us; if the window opened I’m sure I could reach them with outstretched finger tip—snow capped and crusted from extreme winds.
The mountains morphed into crusty plateaus as we approached the barren craters.
Beginning our descent I thought, “Are we landing on the moon?”
Circling again we dropped toward the lunarlike surface. Squinting now I could make out small ribbons of roads as they revealed themselves—puffs of dust following a vehicle as it bounced and fell over the unpaved rocky stretches— connecting villages’ rising organically out of the earth. The craters revealed themselves as spaces between the buildings made from local mud and straw.
As the wheels bounced heavily on the tarmac, my face un-suctioned from my window with a faint sucking sound I hoped no one else had heard—leaving a red patch, another bounce and my nose hit the plastic bit on the pull down shade, I was home for the next few months—a world of beige intrigue—Ouarzazate (pronounced: Waa-zaa-zate)—at the edge of the Sahara. I was ready for an adventure. That bump would not me my last.
Leading an EntwindeLife on the edge of the Sahara.
Sense of place, essence of time.
Booking accommodations for an upcoming trip to Los Angeles, I asked friends for recommendations.
Unlike so many, I prefer the unexpected or sense of place. Sure there is that confidence one gets at staying at the Hilton or Best Western—you know exactly what you’re getting—it’s easy, especially if one participates into the “points scheme” or one likes to know they have waffles on the breakfast menu. But I prefer the place, which actually gives me a sense of place. Continue reading
Allure of Allium—Pleasure of Purple
On this wordless Wednesday enjoy the Allure of Allium—Pleasure of Purple.
As seen yesterday at Sarah B. Duke Gardens…
Durham, North Carolina…—
Enjoy – living the EntwinedLife
Jayme B
NC Certified Environmental Educator
Open Days Program – Labor of Love
A small inclined suburban corner property— chocked full of ideas, a garden executed impeccably on a corner lot — creates a sanctuary for this charming do it yourself duo. Continue reading
EntwinedLife 