Life's A Juggling Act!

So many elements belong to a single day. Take today for example. Sure, regular chores had to be done... the cleaning, cooking, watering, hauling and weeding that go into the daily management of this place. But then a scarecrow needed to be made and installed to protect the third sister ( squash ) of our baby Three Sisters Garden...... some little critter is having it's way out there in those scarce moments when our heads are turned. Homemade Traditional Cuban Vanilla-Bean Organic Ice Cream was promised to my troops and it was time to crack out the second-hand fancy name brand ice cream maker (without instruction manual) that we bought several weeks ago so I could make good as a Mom. And it was such a ridiculously hot day... A SCORCHER!......squarely in the nineties...... that we had to freeze several plastic water filled bottles and place them throughout the coop just so the chickens could mellow out on top of them and stop mouth breathing in their silly looking attempts to stay cool. Yes, we INTEGRATE in life. Attempt to juggle it all...... and hopefully nothing gets crossed or dropped. But today, especially, there was truly a juggling act!

Our friends from Otterspace Arts ( http://www.otterspacearts.com/Site/home.html ) brought some fearless individuals up to Pomello for ..... what else....... a juggling class! Tada! And everyone had a blast! First we all made juggling balls out of empty balloons and bird seed (this makes a very forgiving ball to learn with because it gives a bit in your hand.). Then our amazing instructors, Jen and MaryBeth, patiently shared with us, step-by-step, how to juggle one ball...... then two..... then three. Somehow they charmed the best out of each of the attendees and miraculously no one was biffed in the head or otherwise maimed by the flying lumpy balloons! Somewhere along the way a certain wisenhieymer..... who shall remain nameless..... but may also share a blood link to my own......... well, said weisenhieymer decided that a water balloon could pass as one of these hand made juggling balls and so a mini water fight broke out! No one complained. It was still a million sweaty degrees. But everyone agreed to hold off till we had learned all the steps of three ball juggling. Just before the water war picked up momentum toward the end of class, we released the chickens into the part of the grounds where the juggling balls had been made so that the birds could feast on fallen seeds and maybe even get a good spritz of water from our fight on this hot, hot day. The spritzing happened and our little chickies survived all the action as they chowed down some seed mix. Everyone left with three juggling balls, a little OtterSpace "learn how to juggle" book, at least one article of clothing dowsed with waterballoon fight water and a huge smile on their faces.

We were so happy to have everyone over for this day of outdoor fun!

And now it's onto gearing up for Saturday's big Talent Show/ Fundraiser Potluck we'll be hosting here on our stage in the gardens to benefit Claremont Food Not Lawns. Should be a great time! We'll keep you all posted.

Edible Fences Make Good Neighbors

It was time. It was finally time to call in the special forces. We've been here at Pomello Place for just over a year and haven't gotten nearly as far in the garden as we had hoped. It's been a full year of house repairs, big work, city, art and eco related projects and major family losses on the one side and growing kids, personal insights, small victories and tons of family/ friend love on the other. Yes, we decided to call on our friends from Claremont Food Not Lawns http://www.claremontfoodnotlawns.com/ to come help us transform the front section of our place from a scraggly patch of weeds, sticks, rocks and decay into a sort of edible front porch. So many of our favorite members showed up to dig, move boulders, pull weeds, plant seeds, lay down roots and mulch. It was deeply moving. Remembering that we are connected is one of those important things we can all do as we transition into more sustainable times.

And our yard transformation was community building at its very best.

While sharing garden wisdom and visiting with old friends and new our eco - posse developed a charming and productive welcome garden by our front driveway in just 4 easy going afternoon hours. The weather was cool and refreshing and added to the relaxed energy of the day. We followed up all this eco activism with a delicious and delightful vegetarian potluck.... complete with campfire, s'mores, and group music making a la banjo, piano, guitar, voice, drums and I think I even heard a trumpet at one point.

We'll be transforming the rest of the grounds section by section into a sustaining edible paradise throughout the coming months and years, but this Food Not Lawns gift of time, energy and expertise was a great kick start! Thanks so much to the community I've come to love!