After far too long without rain on Zen, the land slowly moving in the winds , our Arsonist setting fires along one of our main roads any time the smoke clears and plants withering in the breeze.. The rains finally came in .
I just happen to run into Brent Cobb’s Let the Rain come Down .. It seem fitting .
The weekend has been cool and damp with little to no breeze lending to a nice wetting , settling Zen’s soil back to where it belongs. The rainy season has yet to start up here , where chances are I’ll complain about the ” Kansas Mud ” we have to deal with. Until then… I just shed a wee bit of weight off my shoulders.
Zen Mountain ; finding the wet spot
Yes yes, drop the shocked look.. It’s Zen…
With months now with little to no rain, watering in a 24/7 world is a jaw clenching idea before we even turn on the faucet. Drip irrigation is great but unless one of us has the time to turn on and off the water even that is a bit more than is comfortable.
Even soaking ground for hours has small effect when winds drive across the summit pushing our garden soil ever East.
Most folk’s plants love summer. They bloom , they grow like crazy. Ours survive.. Once they make it through the wind drought and heat of the Sun , which is , of course, closer to us than the flatlands … ( At the very least it feels like it without shade trees and the house HAVING to be painted in Dark Greens with a black roof…Our choices were that or Baby Crap Brown and aforementioned black roof…….Because this way we blend in with the almost white grasses around us…* Blink Blink * … It is some touchy Feely Citiot thang … In My World ; light blends with light / Dark blends with dark … But then , I do Not have the power to tell people they can not rebuild after a disaster .. Seems Citiots can … )
Then Winter comes in to try to Quick Freeze the already weak plants ….. Those that survive only get tougher with age . Annuals produce seed for new strains that can tolerate the weather up here .Perennials get stronger and put out babies of one type or another to make a better hybrid to live here.
I think I can
Soaking the gardens eventually bring up veggies and fruits for us to can mostly. We have our Fall Holiday , and renewal of our Marriage coming up once we get through this next week of up at 3:30am and out at 9:30pm.. One last week….Then our Break..well then one more day but..that is later..
We have turkeys and chickens to roast then on to canning stock and meat, Pork Butt to grind , Sirlion to cut into chops , Wontons and Egg rolls to make up and freeze. Apple Sauce to make and can. Cider to make up and can . We have more herbs to harvest and dry. We , of course , have gallons of pasta sauce to make and can . There should be more eggplants to bury…ermmm I mean cook… Vacations for us are not exactly the same as a lot of the folk we know… One of the guys I work with went off to Australia …. We’ll head to the gardens , kitchen, town and take some time for renewal…. Most folk think of travelling to new places on their time off… I have to assume they are not as happy as they could be where they are at. Ma and I could live happily on Zen with only heading to town for supplies . Driving for me is absolute torture ..as in I have to grit my teeth every day just to not pull over and get sickup getting to work…and as often as not , I do once I get there…So yes, send me to the gardens , to the kitchen and keep your travels.. I’ll travel through your pictures when you come back thank you very much….AND… We’ll have a vault of canned goods to munch through the year All from our little Homestead…
Knit Wit
Ok, so if you’ve read many posts , you know Ma knits , and spins… So yes.. I suppose that would make her a Knit Wit that sits and spins ….. I can already see the flying cast iron as I type…
Actually… MA’s work is amazing! The down side is ; most of the pics I have of her work is for Tests so I can’t pop them up… I DO plan on a post just fer Ma and what she does as you have to see it to believe it….. I have never seen a truck cozy before ……………………Kidding…………. Waiting for Ma to give me “The Look and sputter ” when she reads through this.
She is finishing test knits on gloves , ( as in just now ) multiple wraps of different sizes and types .Socks are always somewhere in the mix. Another ” night shirt ” for me which are toasty warm and nothing you’ll EVER find in the city at any price have a nice day ..
I just brought back in a bunch of Ma’s toys that we made and I just finished with Ma’s own signature color I had to blend many stains together…friggin drop by drop to get… then poly coated them …. A couple weeks in the shop after they have sit on the shelf for MONTHS until I had time to do the work…
Lazy Kates ( one multiple , one single ) the Ball Whacker there in the center is actually for darning socks…So long as I don’t get out of line…Bobbins and Pocket Ma’s Pocket Wheel ( a travelling spinning wheel ) …. ON a table Ma built BTW…Notice the color that I had to replicate..
At the moment , Ma is working on yet another shawl . ( and around a hundred other projects )… A cat would faint if it walked into the house….. Just sayin’
Final Thoughts
I am actually going to start closing down here.. I imagine that would be a relief for most of the folk that make it this far into the posts …
We already have the week soup up. During the week , we made up a Zuke lasagna as Ma called it… I just called it me McGuyvering … Also a Pablano casserole .. They both went so well that I made a bit of a combo of the two as I didn’t have enough of either…And Then I ended up with two casserole dishes… Yeah, No idea how I did that… It turned out great anyway… One will get packed and frozen for the now.
With the week as it is ; Me on the run and I have a sneaking suspicion that Ma only eats if I am glaring at her , I am pretty sure that will cover most of our wants for leftovers. I still have some meatballs to make up shortly and Ma is going to make her ” Butter Noodles” …Yes.. I if knew how to make unicorns and butterflies I would have them popping up right there… Possibly hearts and kittens…and a Pirate ..You know.. Just to balance …. Ma’s noodles are easily one of my favorite foods.. I don’t care if they are easy.. Whatever…..
We got a ton done this weekend.. You know.. The Holiday work pre prep… We can’t work all holiday week without working the weekend before to get ready to work… Are you insane?…Before a holiday ; you pack bags check reservations … We go full out run ourselves to the bone for 12-16 hours a day on our days off to prep to well… Work… It errr..Works for us…
The house is totally..ok almost totally clean so that we can comfortably trash it all next week… I feel so much better now.
I have Ma’s toys finished and I did a bunch of work in my office so I wont have to work on it either. Gawh.. weeks of downloading updates for Music software …wears me out thinking about it… Oh.. I still have to do updates and tweak the synth-guitar I set up.. ok and I have a bunch of other stuff to make all play nice together , but I’ll work on that through the winter. I have my ” seasons” songs / vids to work on as well as ” August Nights” …. But I am in no hurry on any of that
Simply upgrading a guitar to a synth is handy as heck… less work on the keys and I can swap the midi pad into a different function ….Yes , I know.. Blah Blah.. it is exciting for me…
Monday will start off with a bang as I already know I’ll be swamped at work but I am hoping it’ll wind down a bit soon… Maybe Friday afternoon I think…
and Zen’s rains fall
We had the chance to sleep in . Nothing to do for minutes yet ……………….
The coyote kids felt that today was just another day. They knew I had to get up early so they decided to wake me with a song………………… At 3:15 am ……………….
Now……… If I were my normal me , not my subbing for my boss me , thata would be no problem.. Kids sing , I listen , I fall back to sleep.. All is good….
Like the kids , I am use to me getting up at 3:30am …
CRAP!
I walk through the house for a bit trying to wind back down . I have too much on my mind. I finally lay back down to get a few minutes of sleep when Limpy and the band start in again is six part harmony…..
REALLY?
I refuse to get up again…………………then I get up…………again………..
I decide it is still too early so I lay back down , it’s my only chance until; Holiday ……
…………………………………..Staring at the ceiling I figure I am showing them…………..As they sit outside my window………….Humming …………..
Fine!
Ma had already gotten up as my flipping about the bed like a wet hamster in oatmeal. I knew I hadn’t fooled anyone….. I was awake and no laying grumbling would take that back .
MA sat out on the porch………..
What a novel idea. * snort*
I went out to sit with Ma as we do every morning………………………………..The kids had gone back to bed……….. GAWH!
We sat and talked about things we had already run into this morning….Seems Ma slept through the kids if not me………………..
The skies were still dark as I listened for anyone up and about…Apparently , now that I was up , everyone felt safe to go to bed… Thank You!
Ma and I chatted as I watched the hills for sign of any life not to lazy to get up and be about…
The clouds started to show color. Greys in the black meant that sunrise was on its way . Gotham ‘s lights were on and the freeway miles away was slow.
A barge slowly moved its way around from East to West as I watched . Even I could see the ripples with the oncoming dawn .
I sat and thought about how much I enjoyed being here. Ma has fit in like no one else ever could have . It can be a rough life up here , but Ma is happy in our little piece of the world . The breezes are calm and everything stands out in the predawn .. Even for a half blind old man .
Browns hit the bottoms of the clouds in a burst of light .A light mist starts to fall about us .A touch of orange fills the belly of first one cloud and then another as I watch. Dawn is getting close.
I walk into the kitchen to grab my camera again only to see the sun peeking out from the far Eastern Range of the state to our North
The Hummies fly in before the Sun can crest the hills. All of them chattering at once , wanting to be the first to talk with us.
Ma and I talk with the hummingbirds as I watch the sun begin to rise , clouds rolling in. I turn to the West to see heavy rain clouds slowly making their way to Zen…Finally…
I think about the Summer . All we have been through again this year… I think about the Fall coming and all that we need to do… And as it begins to rain I realize….
It’s just another day on Zen Mountain
Zen Mountain's Sunday Post and Short Stories 