shhh

shhh

we must quiet be 

not rustle the grass

the shy unicorn

is about to pass

the creek 'tis singing

and violets first bloom

all point to her visit

not later but soon

the mowing can wait

no motors will hum

dandelion and clover

the yard overrun

she comes in the night

by light of the moon

daintily nibbles

on natures best bloom

the wee folk whisper

when her visit is nigh

you can hear their song

in the warm breeze sigh

spirit will listen

and pure heart will hear

when nature awakens

the magic is near

~Ellen Apple 04-13-2015

Tuesday Tidbits

It is a rainy afternoon here on Little Beaver Creek - we have had much rain this month, and the creeks and river are fierce in their fullness. These pictures were taken by Apple on Monday afternoon, while I was at work. The weather yesterday was indeed glorious, beautiful skies and mild temperatures. I knew the weather forecast was for rain today and cooler tomorrow, so I am pleased he got these shots.

It is a read a book, sip a cup of hot coffee, snuggle under a blanket kind of a day.

A young girl who would have turned 11 in December lost her life in an accident on Sunday in our area. A tree, root system made unstable by the recent rains, toppled and crushed her as she was out squirrel hunting with her father. Life is a fragile thing, not promised for any length of time for anyone.  We have to live and appreciate what we have now - it may not be here tomorrow, life may be better it may be worse, it may be altered in our experiences forever with just one act. 

I wrote in a message to someone last night "Don't borrow tomorrow, it will be here soon enough".

We do that, you know, we worry today about the myriad what-if''s of tomorrow. We stress, we panic, we theorize, and our now, our today gets wasted, frittered away. I am not advocating a life of not planning ahead. Dreams are planning ahead, retirement funds are as well, along with home purchases, budgets, all manner of things. Setting goals and working towards their completion, learning new skills, expanding our experiences and communities. These are wonderful, marvelous, fulfilling endeavors. I am speaking (or writing) of being so consumed with the worry of all the negative possibilities that we see littered about in the nebulous future that we are not seeing the "now". Prepare for the worst and hope for the best? Yes. Become obsessed with the worst and getting stuck there? No. 

The time shall soon be here when the trees along the mountaintops have shed all their leaves. When the air is cold and clear, the clouds are heavy and gray, the trees in their bare beauty look like fringe on a rug rippling along the contours of the mountains. I am going to try to remember to take a picture of this gift from the season this coming winter - it is especially striking when there is snow or heavy frost scattered along the hightops. 

Saturday Sojourner

A rare Saturday at home, and I need to be doing things, but here I sit at the computer. I have not blogged in a week, the days just seem to pile up sometimes. I was off work my usual Tuesday and Wednesday - but my dear sweet Shirley at work brought me three books last weekend, so I read three books on my days off. Actually five books, because one was a three-in-one softback. Light, easy reading. The 3-in-1 was a trio of modern romances, ala Silhouette and Harlequin. There was also a Nicholas Sparks novel (he always makes me cry!) and a John Grisham book about a quarterback playing NFL-style football in Parma, Italy. 

Here in pictures I present our week at Little Beaver Creek. 

Pendant from a piece of Black Walnut

The back is beautiful as well 

A piece of envelope art 

We now have business cards

Gourd Harvest

Dalek gourd and four baby boos

Mabon is two years old this weekend

Smokie is so laid back

and totally uninterested in the camera

She actually tried to take the Dalek out of the basket

A box for a totem made for a friend

Elephant totem from creek rock - The twine is hemp

Now I am going to shop a bit. We need cat and people food.

September Sojourns

Swirling whirling breeze

Leaves that dance and then are still

Fall lurks in the air

~Ellen Apple 09-07-2014

Last evening, I observed the tenacity of nature once again, as the dauntless spider has spun a larger web where the day prior another was swept away by broom and man. Spanning from canopy to eave, already ensnaring several gnats, Would that I could fearlessly and with great determination keep coming back when my efforts have been summarily dismissed,

~Ellen Apple 09-09-2014 

~Roger Apple 

~Roger Apple

~Roger Apple

Cold Night of Rain

By warmth of day or in cold night of rain

With love and support there for the taking

Just unable to scale that cliff again

Daily routines and dreams keeping me sane

All the while something inside me breaking

By warmth of day or in cold night of rain

The constant spent sobs unrelenting strain

Anticipating more years of aching

Just unable to scale that cliff again

Should each day be such an energy drain

Leaving one's soul numb with spirit quaking

By warmth of day or in cold night of rain

Once again thinking the dragon is slain

Knocked off kilter confidence left shaking

Just unable to scale that cliff again

Deciding at last to have no more pain

Not rash - it has been years in the making

By warmth of day or in cold night of rain

Just unable to scale that cliff again

~ Ellen Apple 09-09-2014

Written in memory of Scott who could not scale that cliff again.

Awesome August 2014 Sunday Blessings

I thought I had lost my muse

(Too much time listening to the news)

I kept seeing spiders and webs appear

Grandmother was still very near

An entire universe lives alongside my creek

The fairies they danced, and gave me a peek

This is Hootie. Sitting on the remains of a black walnut tree that now provides a bridge for the cats to cross Little Beaver Creek and catch yummies to eat (because they have pretty much exhausted the natural food supply on our little acre).

We have Althea (Hibiscus) in bloom. The ruffled petals look like party dresses, discarded by fairies after a night of cavorting with Dragonflies and Lightening Bugs. Perchance a ride on the unicorn as well?

 

Roger planted ornamental gourd seed once , about five years ago. Now we have at least one volunteer vine a year. A lagniappe from the earth. 

Awesome August 2014 Number Eight

We have cats, inside cats ( Mabon and Smokie ) and outside cats, Gracie (pictured above), Hootie, Marble, and Four. Roger was outside yesterday, trimming tree branches and weedeating. Gracie was helping, keeping watch as to prevent anything from attacking Roger, perhaps? More likely, looking for an unsuspecting insect or vole to pounce upon. Roger heard mewing, so he went to investigate. Ah. In one fell swoop, Four has doubled our outside cat population. They were definitely born on August 7, because she was still visibly pregnant, and very restless, the day before. 

He keeps a camera at hand, and was able to get pictures to share with me when I arrived home from work. We name the outside cats, and feed them. They will come close, but are not amenable to being petted. They are excellent natural pest control, for us and the neighbors. No mice, moles, voles, or shrews to be found. When we first moved here, in 2002, a cat we named TC adopted us. We tried to have her inside, but she preferred the yard. Her favorite place to lie about ( Cats do so love to lie about! ) was the house roof. The current outside cats are her descendants.  

The tree trimming yesterday was concentrated on the Tulip Poplars, we have three now, as well as Weeping Willow and River Birch, and various bushes and shrubs. We also have a Grape Arbor, in which the cats love to play, climb, and hunt. 

Little Beaver Creek sings merrily along, and the cats drink from the quiet pools along the edge. They will eschew a bowl of fresh water and go to the creek instead to drink. The only time they will deign to drink from a bowl is in winter, when they shelter in the shed and the creek is too icy along the banks to drink from easily. We feed them in the shed during the winter as well. We have the most pampered outside cats ever. I purchase canned food as well as kibble for them, and they get treats on a regular basis. Roger made a pet door to allow them easy access to the shed, just big enough for a cat to get through. 

We really do have an awesome life.

Walnut Bridge

Once a towering black walnut stood
Sentinel o'er river birch and lilac wood
Until storm and time conspired
One fated night the mighty tree expired
Leaning listing left to decay mold

Weeks and seasons and weather passed
Still precariously leaned a drunken mast
Thus explored by curious cat and snake
A shelter for bird and rabbit did make
Through blistering heat and icy cold 

April so harsh May left behind
June brought wind and storm most unkind
An epic elemental fight
In aftermath of the darkest night
Morning and new purposes unfold

A footbridge for wildlife will span
Meandering stream untamed by man
A surface smooth easily traversed
Each confident step well rehearsed
Nature is a wonder to behold


~ Ellen Apple 06-25-2014

Things that made me smile this week

Roger's view on life, tolerance and playing well with others:

Apple Speaks:

There is one thing every human has in common.
No matter what country, what religion, what gender, what sexual orientation, what political views,

What everybody has in common in their lifetime they all have to go to the grocery store/marketplace/bazaar/fields for food, shelter, clothing.

There will always be a clean up on aisle three.

When you look at different people they reall...y are not that different after all.

Everybody has one favorite thing that they want the most, one favorite thing they love to eat. That means that we all have to see the thing that is the same in us and quit looking for the difference because we do not all have the same favorite thing.

My favorite thing is homemade ice cream with fresh, fresh peaches.

Just pay attention the next time you are out around other people. You will see what I mean.

A Poem I wrote:



Take my wagon to the woods

That is what I should do

Dig some 'seng

Find some ramps

Search out those dry-land fish



Take my wagon to the meadow

That is what I should do

Gather dandelions and clover

Cut some lavender

Brew me some thistle tea



Take my wagon to the fair

That is what I should do

Read some cards

Dance and twirl

Sing the Moon to sleep





- Roberta Ellen Smith Apple, 02/27/2014

This was our sky on Thursday.

Roger is making a crescent moon from a piece of cedar he found in our creek.

My babies.