billie hinton’s camera-obscura:
life and lessons on November Hill Farm
The natives have taken over and the birds and insects love it! I’m taming things a little where needed, but here at summer’s downhill slide, leaving the things that serve this little/big ecosystem I live in.
Whenever I glance out the windows there are birds flying by, insects wafting and hovering, and so much activity as they forage the native plantings. It’s a rich and vibrant ecosystem and there will be all winter to tidy things up.
On Sunday my grandchildren and I were watching with great delight this little spider wrapped around her two beautiful egg sacs outside the window. The dried leaf stem blew into the web that extended about 20 inches down from what you see in this photo. It was dangling by the stem down there, blowing in the mild breeze.
When I woke up on Monday morning, she had brought the leaf stem up to her egg sacs and somehow turned it all the way around and positioned it so the curve of this leaf became a perfect shelter for her and the eggs.
I don’t know how she did it but I take it as a metaphor for myself right now. It’s a little miracle that inspires. I can and I will provide safety, protection, and shelter for my children and my grandchildren. So much love.
Hawk or owl? I am not sure but have been perusing feathers online this a.m. Either way, I love that this was front and center by the barn as the tree trimming was completed yesterday with not too much fanfare at all. The horses were aware but not fearful and I’m glad this particular event is behind us now.
The sun is out this morning, the air is cooler and less humid, and even the fact that my beds are full of weeds is not too daunting. I’m aiming to do a half hour a day and get them back in shape by Labor Day!
Figs are still plentiful and ripening each day, autumn-blooming flowers are beginning in the beds and landscape, and the early color dogwood is now blushing with orange all over.
We had one honeybee colony abscond, which also happened last year this time, but our net gain means we still have 4 very active colonies.
Life is full right now and some of the hard things are a wee bit less so this week. I’m gettng massage, chiro, and will soon be doing some therapy with EMDR which I am so very ready for. The main thing is this: I have done hard things, I can do them now. I am good at noticing the joy in small moments, the beauties in a day, and that is a very big part of moving through tough times.
I feel the strong presence of my dad, whose strength and care is so helpful to me now, and I also feel the strength and security of Keil Bay, Salina, and my first horse Bo-Jinx, galloping circles of safety around my entire family. Just thinking of these supports in my life brings a deep healing breath to my body.
When I do the online videos shared by Yoga With Adriene she often says: take the biggest breath you’ve taken all day. This is a great thing to do when things get hard, big, intense. When you read this, try it out! It helps so much.
November Hill is breathing with me and that too is pure comfort.
Channeling this peaceful day with dogs this week:
I hope everyone has made it through Debby, or is soon to be viewing Debby in the past tense! We have had, and are still having, much rain and a little wind. The farm is soggy and the skies are gray, but we have been lucky compared to those who have had tornados, power outages, and big trees down.
Just before Debby came through we had “contracted by our electric co-op tree trimming crews” on the lane, and they destroyed our mailbox and dumped huge oak branches all the way down the front of our fence line, damaging the native shrubs I planted. That was bad enough, but the supervisor’s rude, verbally abusive behavior went way over the line, and I ended up on the phone with our electric co-op and the corporate headquarters of the contracted company, whose name I’ll share here in case you ever have to deal with them. Xylem Tree “Experts” is based in Virginia and send crews out to many states on behalf of the electric companies who hire them.
Just remember, you have rights as a property owner and you can generally contact your state’s Utilities Commission to stop whatever it is they’re doing wrong. In the case of these contracted tree trimming crews, they themselves have no rights regarding your property. They don’t hold the rights of way, they have no claim to be on your property. If there is anything to be discussed, it’s between you and the power company itself, and your state’s Utilities Commission has the power to pause everything until something mutual can be worked out.
The tree trimming crews that are contracted almost never live in the communities they’re working in, and they seem to generally be arrogant and rude when confronted. If this is upsetting, call 911. No worker has a right to intimidate you on your private property.
The day they destroyed our mailbox and damaged shrugs, our co-op instructed them to leave and not to come back. We are scheduled to meet with our co-op person on Tuesday and he has assured me he will personally supervise the remaining work that needs to be done, with me or my husband also present. Note that the crew supervisor told me the day of the damage that he WOULD come back and that they WOULD finish the job. Um, no, you will not, and get out of my space.
I’m in contact with corporate offices to get reimbursed for their damage and have filed a complaint against this supervisor.
In more pleasant news, we have a little birthday girl in the family this week. My granddaughter is now one year old! We’re excited to celebrate her and also her big brother, who told me yesterday that he wants to ride Little Man when he gets older. Little Man had chiro this week and had nothing other than a normal maintenance adjustment, which his vet said was pretty remarkable considering the kind of surgery he had. We are happy that he (and Cody too) are doing well. Next visit the donka boys get their turns.
Here’s to summer sliding quietly into fall.
And I must say it: I’m so very happy to have Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on the Democratic ticket for November. What an amazing voting experience this will be!
We are swimming in beautiful, huge figs right now, and I’m enjoying my son and grandchildren’s delight in picking and eating them. In the throes of a long, hot, and in many ways difficult summer, this simple pleasure is sustaining all of us.
We’ve had enough good rain to rejuvenate the pastures, and the front field has totally come back to very green life. Apache has been able to return to full time turn-out with his herd and they were invited to head into the front pasture yesterday. Every time I glanced out they were heads down and grazing. It was a sweet thing to see. And it’s August! So we’re heading toward my favorite season and although we still have some heat left to sweat our way through, knowing cooler weather is coming makes me so happy.
Right now the goldfinches are devouring the coneflower seed heads. I love seeing these bright little birds in the garden. This photo came from my husband this morning.
I’ve been able to do small gardening tasks almost every day for the past week, mostly tidying up the grass around the driveway with my electric weedeater. It’s nicely self limiting due to its battery charge, which helps me limit myself and not get into the deep rabbit hole of trying to do “the whole thing.”
Today, I’m enjoying a morning quiet time with Pixie sitting on my lap purring and pushing her face into my arm, which she loves to do, Bear lying on the floor belly up, Baloo perched on the sofa with his face to the window so he can monitor the driveway, and Violet on the very large dog bed asleep. Clem is sleeping in the laundry room, and Pippin, Isobel, and Mystic are napping upstairs. The herd is in the barn with fans and hay.
It is possible to endure very hard things and also find moments of calm and beauty. This is my mission right now and I think it’s a good reminder to all of us. Find the calm and beautiful moments, as many times as we can do so in a day, a week, a month.
