Alida's 10! And a memorable WV weekend!!

Alida now needs all her fingers to show her age. She is a double digit kid now! And she had a memorable crossing from 9 to 10. We actually started celebrating a few days early this year, spreading out the fun and proactively slipping in a Tangly Woods party before 3 of us got our second Covid shots. Not knowing how we would feel, it seemed wise to celebrate on the eve of our vaccines just in case. It was a good choice! She chose lasagna and blueberry pies. A very special present was opened that night - a book called Alida and Her Chickens which was a team effort by my dad (photographer), Kali (text) and my mom (layout design and project coordinator). It was a hit!!

As we went to bed on Wednesday night, Alida was in awe that her birthday hadn't even happened yet, as she had already had so much fun! Her actual birthday dawned with those of us who had had vaccines 24 hours prior feeling varied levels of soreness/sickness. We managed a ponhoss, eggs and fruit salad brunch, more present opening and then getting packed up and ready to head to WV! In the midst of the celebrating and trip preparations, Terah's head hurt which led me to find an attached tick at the spot of discomfort. This happened literally within minutes of me getting my blood test result: positive for Lyme. So, as it turns out, Jason started his round of antibiotics (also for Lyme) the day after our first Covid shot, and here I was following suit by starting my round the day after our second Covid shot. Not a cause for celebration! 

But back to the birthday girl and the more enjoyable news! One of the birthday coupons we gave Alida was for a bike - she is outgrowing a lot of things these days! Thankfully a refurbished one from Wyse Cycles was a perfect fit and we headed over the mountains with bike in tow and a kid chomping at the bit to get back on it as soon as possible! And that she did! My parents' place in WV has a great spot for riding bike back and forth in front of the house. I would say the bike has been sufficiently broken in and made for a wonderful part of a memorable birthday!

The other thing that will make this birthday stand out was that, following a 2 week quarantine, our dear friends Jonathan and Christen joined us at the Mountain House for the weekend. This was the first time we have all hugged them without masks and shared indoor meals/games/conversations in over a year. It was not just a birthday gift for Alida - it was a gift shared by us all! We kicked off the weekend full of good eating with Alida's birthday meal of sausage gravy, sweet potatoes, homemade cheddar, ricotta, dilly beans, corn, and cranberry sauce, followed (once our tummy's settled a bit) by ice cream and birthday cupcakes (made with Grandma Myers before we left). It was truly delightful to be around a dinner table together again!

The other place with the most activity was definitely the living room. A lot of books were read out loud, games played, and lots of gabbing and general silliness. Oh, and some spontaneous napping...

We drove home in rain today but we were welcomed with beautiful weather Friday, followed by a warm Saturday, so pleasant we ate brunch on the deck! Below is a smattering of other moments from our outdoor times together. There was a lot of hugging sprinkled throughout! We enjoyed a walk down to the labyrinth and playing by the stream. Then a walk up to my uncle's cabin (we encountered him partway up, then later he shared some freshly dug ramps...thanks!). There was lots of frisbee throwing - sometimes accompanied by the fling sock and balls flying through the air too. No one was hurt, but there were a few close calls! 

We feel so grateful for these dear friends and the gift of this time together. When we got home and Tala asked Terah what was the most fun, she thought for awhile before concluding that it was being able to hug Jonathan and Christen without masks. For me, there were many highlights, but I think if I had to choose one, I would choose the porch time the four adults had this morning where we shared both laughter and tears. Life is messy, sometimes hard, and made so much more bearable and beautiful with kindred spirits and deep committed relationships!

p.s. There's a new chicken coop at Tangly Woods! And this one was built with Terah in mind and she is very excited about it! As many projects go when building an original design using repurposed materials, it took a lot of time. But the look on this gal's face when it was ready to put to use was a large reward. Once in the yard and stocked with chickens for her to care for, she would run from house to coop to house to coop, giving us the blow by blow report! When they tipped their water and food, she took off for the shed all by herself to get what she needed to restock them. While in WV, she even wanted to come home a day early because she missed her chickens! We'll see how long the intense passion for her poultry lasts...

Many signs of spring, including CHICKS!

And I guess it is time, as spring is officially here! Every year as colors return to the world around us, I am on the lookout for the first flowers. It always makes me think of Nora when I see the first cluster of yellow flowers. When Nora was living, Kali said that we would know it was time to take our baby outside when we saw the first three yellow flowers. This cluster of three yellow daffodils in Nora's garden came from flowers we got at my Grandma Myers' funeral. I was touched to find just three blooming, only to learn later that there had been four until one was swiped for a certain someone that lives in the upper part of Tangly Woods and loves flowers!

Now there are even more daffodils to satisfy the multiple members of this household that like to bring flowers indoors. Grandma has good company in our girls!

For a while now we have been without snow, but we did have a series of rainy days. The rain didn't keep Terah from joining her daddy for chores.

Daddy is often doing interesting things that one or more of the girls want to join. And if they aren't joining him, the two younger gals are often attempting to deter him from heading back to his work. They are sometimes successful!

When it isn't raining and isn't a work day, Jason and I often slip out for an early morning walk. If it happens to be a day that my dad is doing chicken chores, we may go as far as a hike up to Hensley's Pond. Those times of extended uninterrupted conversations are precious - and kinda few and far between!

We are on the cusp of the spring burst of weeding and planting! The seed shelf is full of sweet potato starts, parsley, peppers, basil, giant poppies and collards. And the onion starts are now on the porch getting used to the outdoor conditions. 

In hopes of finishing a few "winter projects," we did get out together to mulch the remaining garden paths on a recent spring-like day. There is still some winter cut back to finish up and Jason is in the middle of building a new chicken coop - a yard pen for a group of chickens for Terah to take care of! That project will hopefully be completed before my parents return from their week in WVA on Wednesday so their garage can house their car rather than this building project!

And, last but not least, the most important March news: CHICK HATCHING HAS COMMENCED! And we didn't have a broody hen for the first incubator hatch, which made 8 (all) of us happy. We got to enjoy lots of chick adoring for two weeks until they were beginning to venture outside of their swimming pool. They are now growing fast in one half of the red coop.

The second hatch went under a great broody hen who now has her wings full with 30 chicks (9 that she hatched and 21 that Jason slipped under her at night while she was still in that "receptive window"). While I love the fun of getting to play with chicks indoors, I never tire of watching a mama hen talk with her chicks!

Before long some of these fluff balls will be among the ranks of poultry that come running whenever Alida shows up! She has quite a following! They know that she nearly always has corn in her pockets.

P.s. Shot one done! Second shot this Thursday morning on the eve of Alida's 10th birthday! It will be a gift to her that the adults of Tangly Woods will then be fully vaccinated, AND would be a bonus gift if we aren't all flattened with side effects on her bday!

This is "real life" too!

At the end of this 13 hour sprint on Zoom and in front of my computer screen, I'm ready to call it a day! It was a warmer today so I didn't need my whole "get up" for work, but when Jason saw me with my coat on and my "afghan skirt" the other day, he brought me an old pair of socks that he rehabbed to be hand warmers that still allowed typing. Our back bedroom (my office) gets chilly! We love our bedrooms being cooler for sleeping but for working it hasn't been ideal. Anyway, I have finally closed my work email and there are no teeth other than my own to brush tonight, so bed can beckon early and I can reply! This morning when Terah woke before 7 a.m. (this is unheard of for a Myers-Benner gal), the first sleepy words were, "We need to put my toothbrush in my bag." She was one excited kid, chomping at the bit to head to WV with Grandma, Grandpa and her sisters for a few days.

It's only Jason that won't have a stint at the Mountain House in the course of the week. On Friday, Tala and I took off for the mountains just the two of us. My cell phone and computer remained in Keezletown! It snowed most of the way, but we arrived safely and soon settled into retreat and relaxation mode. The weekend was such a gift - it was full of uninterrupted conversations, deep connection, laughter, a Rook tournament, my first experience of "binge watching" a Netflix show (I introduced Tala to The Good Place, which I'm enjoying the 2nd time around just as much or more), sharing stories intermingled with tears, a walk to the labyrinth, throwing snowballs and sharing things we are grateful for, lots of hugs, eating delicious foods, restful nights, and continuing to work on building new, healthier neural pathways!

These hearts in the snow seemed like beautiful symbolism - there was a lot of love shared!

We reflected on the weekend as we traveled home and both shared things we were taking from that time. For me a few things stood out. The first was that I didn't want the weekend to feel like it was somehow not part of "real life" and that now we were returning to the "real world." I want times of rest, rejuvenation, play, healing, and deep connection to be the real world too! I also felt very present during the time away and it felt so grounding to be able to focus in on one thing at a time. I would love to bring that mindfulness to more of life. And, finally, I'm slowly starting to accept that personal growth/healing/change seems to more often come in the form of a whole series of baby steps along the way, almost indiscernible until you realize you are at a different place than you were. Here's to taking those baby steps surrounded by love, connection and companionship, whether in Keezletown or Harman!

Speaking of love, Jason gave a loving gift to me on Valentine's Day that was shared with all of us at Tangly Woods. He created a series of cards with the words Love, Empathy, Compassion, Kindness, Patience, Peace, Humility, Curiosity, Justice, Fidelity, Gentleness, Joy, and Respect. Under each main word were six additional words that connected to that main theme for Jason. For example, under Love were affection, devotion, fondness, friendship, cherishing, and delight. Each week we rotate the card around where we have them hanging in a central location where we can all see them often and continue to focus on nurturing these aspects of relationships with one another. This week is Compassion and some of us are needing to remind each other consistently that these words are things we want reflected in our relationships with each other and with ourselves!

In closing, a few other tidbits from life for "the scrapbook." Lately, Terah and Alida have been spending hours many days dressed up in various "fancy" outfits, playing some variation of school. Often I'm so occupied with meetings that I hardly know what they are up to, but every now and then I get curious when I don't hear anything for a long time and when I go looking this is the kind of scene I come upon. 

As we welcome March, there are signs of spring. We aren't able to do a lot outside right now due to the amount of snow and rain we have had lately and the list of projects is expanding as we near the next growing season. For now, we enjoy some of the first flowers.

And Friday morning, before leaving for WV, I got to join Jason outside and learn how to prune elderberries. I'm not upset in this photo, Terah just caught me concentrating on my next cut. 

It felt special, after a long hiatus, to all be outside together working on a shared project. 

Terah was especially excited about hauling the elderberry canes to the pad for chipping and then skipping back down to the next elderberry bush hand in hand with me. I liked that pretty well too!