Summer in the Garden

Wordle the Turtle

Here is a Wordle created from the text of an essay I wrote on living at Walker Creek. (I love how it randomly created the Wordle in the shape of a footprint. Walking on earth.)

Watch for the essay in an upcoming Communities magazine issue. Meanwhile, read between the lines......!!

We Have Chickens!

Talk over the fences between us 'neighbors' at Walker Creek, if there were any fences, has been about chickens recently.

After a bit of ongoing banter, one community meeting, the transformation of an abandoned sheep shed, and the offer of five free hens -- we Creekers are in doing a happy-egg dance.

The kids named them the minute they met them. "Rootbeer!" and "Sawdust!" for the brown hens, says Noah. Fluffy for the big white one and Cotton for the smaller one. Katey chimes in, "And... Lolipop!" (go figure, her favorite food) is offered up as a name for one of them. Hannon deliberates over the rooster. "I think it should be 'Flame'." I say, how about Lolipop? Hannon grimaces. No way. Later, it gets established. The rooster henceforth shall be named: Flame Sword.

Teresa and Claire are busy turning brown paper egg cartons into custom works of art in gilded tones. Creeker Eggs, coming soon to a fridge near you (if you are so lucky!)

We Have Bees!

Yes, the air is abuzz.... No kiddin'. 36 hives in six tidy stacks of six hives each.

I don't know how many bees that adds up to but I do know that the air sounds significantly different now, tucked into the edge of the trees on the edge of the meadow near the old community center building.

Bruce the beekeeper wanted an area close by to his other hives in the neighborhood -- and we as a community of gardeners and fruit-lovers wanted bees on our land doing their happy pollination dance. And voila, a win-win partnership was won. The bee boxes showed up last week on Bruce's giant flat-bed truck.

The air hums now, and on certain days, the hum is a cloud surrounding you everywhere you go near the greenhouse. Observing if this 'fruit year' in our orchards are any different will be interesting.

Tree-mersion

An April 2012 New York Times article touts the benefits of trees, and recent scary mass-deaths of trees across the globe. More positively, it mentions something I've never heard of -- forest bathing.

In Japan, researchers have long studied what they call “forest bathing.” A walk in the woods, they say, reduces the level of stress chemicals in the body and increases natural killer cells in the immune system, which fight tumors and viruses. Studies in inner cities show that anxiety, depression and even crime are lower in a landscaped environment. Trees also release vast clouds of beneficial chemicals. On a large scale, some of these aerosols appear to help regulate the climate; others are anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-viral. We need to learn much more about the role these chemicals play in nature. One of these substances, taxane, from the Pacific yew tree, has become a powerful treatment for breast and other cancers. Aspirin’s active ingredient comes from willows.

I wanted to title this post "Forest Bathing" but realized it might sound too much like a bunch of dirty hippies taking baths in the woods. Tree-mersion feels like... what I feel... living here.

The concept of "forest bathing" helps me understand why I might have adjusted so quickly to living at Walker Creek. I couldn't believe, after four decades of mostly big-city existence, how deeply I felt at peace living here. Like, we're talking, in the space of about two weeks. And in the face of the depths of a Western Washington winter (our family finally moved to our forest home completely on October 1, 2011). It is truly amazing to live at Walker Creek. Thank you, woods, for the daily forest bath.

Easter Warmth, in 3D

Okay, the 3D lure was just to get you to see the movie.

So, the clip is merely a 360 degree glimpse of Easter 2012 at Walker Creek... and it comes with a warning: you may have to tilt your head to the side as the camera spins around in a circle. By clicking the link, you agree to assume all responsibility for dizziness and/or warm fuzzy feelings that you may experience.

Filmmaker's note: Prior to all this merrymaking and munching, nearly 20 dozen eggs were hidden and discovered in the meadow/orchard during the Children's Egg Hunt. And several Golden Eggs along with chocolate ones in the Adult Egg Hunt (aka $$$$$$$). Thank you: sun, friends, family! With much gratitude for simple pleasures.

Cherry Tree House

One day, that being today, you wander into the orchard with your two kids. Someone has told you there was "a suprise" for the kids there...

Behold - the beginnings of a magical tree house in the cherry tree.

I see many hours of deliriously happy children sitting in this tree..... Thank you! To the visionaries - and the do-ers - in our sweet community.

A Pattern Language of Natural Homes

These natural home concepts make me drool.
They are from A Pattern Language.



A Pattern Language, by Christopher Alexander, is a collection of 253 ideas that can make your living environment a pleasure. Mouse over the pictures to see which pattern the picture illustrates and click to see the picture on their facebook page to follow links to the house from where the picture came.

It will lead you to a paragraph, like this one: Pattern No.199, which is essential to my well being in the dark and gloomy kitchen of the Sunshine House (no pun intended).

Pattern No. 199: ‘Sunny Counter’. Dark and gloomy kitchens are depressing. The kitchen needs sunlight more than any other room. If you can, place the main part of the kitchen counter on the south side of the kitchen with a big wide window so that the sun can reach in to flood the kitchen with light. This is the kitchen at Deacon Vale Farm on Mayne Island, Canada which was built by Cob Works in 2005.

Looking for Leprechauns

Ken was clearing one of the areas in the back orchard after a major pruning push with Miyabi (hurray, blueberry bushes!) and uncovered this gorgeous moss mountain. He called the kids to come take a look.

The magic of Saint Patrick's day and tiny forest creatures takes hold.