right now: springtime

With a balcony garden and two plots at a local community garden to care for, Wren is getting her hands dirty this spring.  The balcony garden features pots of sweet and Thai basil, rosemary, cilantro, pansies, ranunculus and a Pink Lemonade blueberry bush (pink blueberries!).

In the community garden, Wren and her husband planted romaine lettuce, cherry tomato and Quinault strawberry starts and direct-seeded the ground with chives, green onions, spinach, and snap peas.  They are looking forward to a flavorful and colorful harvest.  What projects are you working on this spring?

right now: wild’s morning

Brown corduroy and blue Keds. White hyacinth blossoms on the wood floor. Wild Boy’s robot bib. Bopping to world music. Burnt tortillas smeared with nectarine jam. Chickens rustling in the coop. The smell of baking bread on the moist, pale gray breeze. A lone gull circling above tall cedars. No school bus today.

in hand: what wild is reading

Wild, ever the planner, had feathered her nest with a stack of books to peruse over the last month of her pregnancy, however, the wee one had other plans and made his appearance three weeks early, cutting short the homemaking and baking journey Wild had in mind.

Now spending her days getting acquainted with the new babe and learning along with her husband to navigate the world of parenting two under two plus dog and poultry, Wild has just enough energy to watch an old sitcom before falling asleep at night.

Realizing that she will probably get to crack open this particular group of books in a couple of months after things settle down, Wild would like to share her picks with you this weekend in hopes that you will enjoy them in the meantime:

1. Savvy Chic by Anna Johnson
2. Blackbird Bakery by Karen Morgan
3. Doughnuts by Lara Ferroni
4. Four Kitchens by Lauren Shockey
5. The Hip Girl’s Guide to Homemaking by Kate Payne
6. A Year of Pies by Ashley English
7. Onward by Howard Schultz
8. Momofuku Milk Bar by Christina Tosi
9. The Scandinavian Kitchen by Camilla Plum

What are you reading this week?–wild wren

just remember this.

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

–Vivian Greene

right now: in the thick of it

Thirty-six weeks pregnant and steadily growing, Wild’s mind is spinning faster and faster even as her body slows down. Remembering to be grateful gives her a glimpse of a path through the dark moments that often return as she readies for the birth of a rainbow baby.

Considering things she is grateful for, no matter how seemingly small or inconsequential, helps clear a space of light in the daily murkiness of caring for a fireball of a toddler, a dog who has taken to stalking Wild as if she were about to give birth any moment, and a bevy of adolescent hens who insist on performing call-and-answer numbers in their coop at 2:30 in the morning.

Wild’s ‘Things To Be Grateful For’ List No. 1

1. The plethora of resources for mothers available today both on the internet and in the printed word. This list of ’10 Blog Posts Every New Mom Should Read’ via Stroller Traffic is a great start, which brings me to:
2. The strength of Adrian Donnelly Rowley of ivyleagueinsecurities.com in telling the story of her miscarriage and encouraging others to do the same. Someday, perhaps I will be capable of writing down the story of our daughter.
3. This post ‘Free But Not Cheap’, by Magda Pecsenye on AskMoxie.org which has helped me understand different facets of motherhood and how to separate the jobs that come with it from the relationship being cultivated.
4. A funky, sanity-saving haircut from Tacoma’s curly hair savant Susan Pack. So excited to support her as she steps out on her own at Indigo Salon!
5. The gift of a 90-minute prenatal massage by Abrah Zigler, a very talented and intuitive therapist seeing clients at Salon LaTresse.
6. Family living nearby for the first time in six years.
7. Experiencing the luxury of reading new books while living on a tight budget as a single-income family by “shopping” at the library.
8. A growing circle of generous and artistic friends who use their time, skills and resources to take care of each other whenever possible.
9. Enjoying the amazing range of fruit and vegetables grown and foraged in the Pacific Northwest and the privilege of exposing our children to it from birth.
10. Being married to a good man for the last six years, who no matter what, always comes through.

What are you grateful for?–wild wren