working weekends

Work on Saturday at 7:23am feels slightly less bad after hanging wet sheets on the line and salad-spinning winter greens from my friend's garden.

Marilyn was such a badass

mille, the next day

Mil's drinking water now and won't stop licking my face. My family can't help but think about the pitbull attack, but I'm trying to just focus on this little gal. (Don't want to keep reliving yesterday.) Judging by the tail wags, I think she's coming back.

my mille

This morning my pup was mauled by another dog in the neighborhood (for the third time, if you can believe it). Her belly and leg are stitched up now and she's home, pacing the hallway, shaking like a little leaf. She's going to be okay, I think. I was beside myself for a while, but now that she's home, I'm feeling less useless. For a terrifying few minutes today I thought I was going to have to say goodbye, and I wasn't ready. She's such a love in my little life. I can't properly express my happiness that she's still here. I'm sitting by her now, working (and not working). She's just starting to fall asleep.

we found a ben's bells

...keep Tucson kind...

special elections in spring

pinterest-style photo love: from March web surfing

Patagonia blooms & A.E. Housman

"Loveliest of Trees"

LOVELIEST of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough,

And stands about the woodland ride

Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my threescore years and ten,

Twenty will not come again,

And take from seventy springs a score,

It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom

Fifty springs are little room,

About the woodlands I will go

To see the cherry hung with snow.

I sent Mia this photograph; in return, she sent this poem by A.E. Housman. I re-re-reread it this morning, as the sun rose, and at first, felt overwhelmingly sad -- panicked, almost as though time was moving too quickly. But then I crept out of my room and opened the windows in the kitchen nook. Cool air rushed in with the smell of citrus blossoms (FAV AROMA EVAH) and I felt grateful for something unnamed and very big.

walking up a gravel drive, i saw this sign and laughed

my face is wind-whipped and a smidgen burnt

winter herbs and lots of greens on this rainy day

free showing, this tuesday!

recalibrating feels so fine

Last night, I could barely keep my eyes open past 7:30pm. I slept and slept and slept and slept and today, woke up after sunrise (that like... never happens). I ambled around my little garden (MY STUPICE TOMATO PLANT IS FLOWERING, OMG IT IS MARCH 17th). I whisked a peanut sauce (morning meditation). I read the more inspiring and more sobering parts of the newspaper (can't stop thinking about Dharun Ravi). I melted Scharffen Berger chocolate on the stove (and licked the spatula) and re-re-read this blog post by my chum. Mille is snoozing by my toes. The window is open. My coconut flour is replenished and I'm about to tweak these choco-coconut muffins, above. Five trays of bananas are dehydrating in the kitchen.

my weirdo (classy?) dog

Every year, as the spring days lengthen and warm up, my dog -- A LABRADOR (aren't they supposed to be garbage disposals?) -- eats less and less. Instead, she sunbathes.

She'll always eat my ice cubes, though.

150 onions later....

We've also got 4 types of basil, dill, oregano, epazote, parsley, no cilantro (it died real fast), chives, tarragon and some fuzzy sage in the ground. Also: 7 tomato plants, mostly from Chiapas. A frilly eggplant; a sweet pepper. The garlic (planted circa November) is looking peaky, but maybe that assessment is too early (doubtful).

bumblebee

P.S. Pollinators rock! This video is so pretty. Swoon worthy, I'm telling you.

fresh start with open windows

Don't think I slept a wink last night. Fitful sleep; tummy hurting. But in an effort to channel some Pollyanna and start the week fresh, I started the day slicing apples, hanging laundry, smelling citrus blossoms, tucking fresh sheets on and under my little bed, sipping sweetened black tea with the windows open and taking a peek at my exploding epazote in the garden beds outside. Before returning to a mammoth USDA grant editing sesh, I transplanted one tomato plant who was looking a little peaky. I gave him a drink and now he looks even worse! My thumb is brown, but I'm hoping his new comfy home (pillowed with kickass compost) will help the little guy bounce back.

keep calm and carry on

In the bleary-eyed hours of morning, I came across this YouTube video on the origins of this ubiquitous poster. I had no idea!

On an unrelated notes, I keep re-re-reading this Virginia Woolf quote from Mrs. Dalloway.

"She felt very young; at the same time unspeakably aged. She sliced like a knife through everything; at the same time was outside, looking on. She had a perpetual sense, as she watched the taxi cabs, of being out, out, far out to sea and alone; she always had the feeling that it was very, very dangerous to live even one day."

in the eighties all week; spring is here!

i'm a taco diplomat

Today we set up our Heritage Food Wagon at the EPIC Tucson Festival of Books. Folks gathered, noshing on Chilttepica Salsa and tortilla chips. People finished the sentence, "A taco is..." on a white board and I took photos of them. My answer was, "A crunchy bite of heaven." My friend's was "An artistic endeavor." Jorge wrote, "A whole meal!"

Before I left, I plastered a few pipsqueaks with Taco Diplomat stickers.

zucchini noodles with a crazy-looking kitchen gizmo!

garden time, continuing

sunday in the garden

I nailed it!

Homemade almond milk with a touch of freshly ground nutmeg and cinnamon and a spritz of vanilla. On the side, choco-coco almond cookies -- the almondy leftovers, with cocoa, coconut flour and a bit of honey to bind them all together.

week-in-review-reflection

WHOA. Like, one of the most life-affirming weeks ever!!!

PHEW.

I need a rewind button!

In other news: my ma and I are having a mega garden overhaul this weekend. We're getting those tomatoes in the ground, baaabaayyy!

Wednesday at Tanque Verde Ranch

Tuesday in Elgin, AZ