Eggs & Bacon

Ever since my friend Rose posted about medium-boiled eggs, I have been hooked. I make them just like she suggests, with farm-fresh eggs, served over toast drizzled with olive oil and rubbed with garlic. I've taken to serving them with griddled tomato slices and crispy organic bacon. So delicious!

Last weekend, in need of a quick dinner, I put these now always-on-hand ingredients to use in a different way, utilizing a gorgeous head of spinach I had garnered from my weekly organic co-op basket. The result: a most-scrumptious spinach & bacon quiche. Here's my recipe, just in case you begin stockpiling farm-fresh eggs & bacon at your home too!

Farm-Fresh Spinach & Bacon Quiche
1/4-1/2 lb. cooked organic bacon (I like Applegate Farms Sunday Bacon)
2 c. chopped fresh spinach
5 farm-fresh eggs
1 c. milk
1 c. cheese ( I used Monterrey Jack)
1 pie crust (I used a store-bought crust...feel free to one-up me and make your own!)
Salt & pepper

Mix eggs & milk together. Layer bacon, spinach & cheese in pie crust. Pour egg & milk mixture over top. Salt & pepper to taste. Bake at 400 degrees for approx. 35 min.

Nature & Friendship

Over the weekend, I was gifted with a full 24 hours off the grid. Under the majestic, old trees of a 40-acre ranch, we joined together with our village for a family camp out birthday party that will never be forgotten. It was a weekend overflowing with the beauty and abundance of both nature and friendship.

Late night and early morning campfires.

Hayrides and slow walks through the nearly-untouched land.

Natural discoveries, both big...

...and small.

Sweet family moments that celebrated diverse individuality...

...as well as loving inter-connectivity.

So happy birthday to a very special six year old boy! Thank you for sharing your most magical of birthdays, full of sweet surprises and much-needed reminders of what matters most.

Pumpkin Love

Last weekend we traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina to visit family... and our first pumpkin patch of the season. It was a quaint farm experience complete with a hay ride and feeding of the farm animals. But the pumpkins, oh they just make my heart go pitter-pat. Who knew one could fall so hard... for a squash!

I apologize ahead of time for the sure-to-follow many pictures of pumpkins, pumpkin patches, pumpkin festivals, etc. that will appear here over the next month or so. I simply want to share the love!

I'm Still Here

Over the past two weeks I took an unplanned break from blogging... it's just the way life worked out. And given some ongoing family situations, it may be necessary again. But right now, I am here! And right now, more than ever, I am focusing on the present moment.

I recently read a section in Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way on "attention" that really got mine. She writes about standing knee-deep in the flow of life and paying close attention. Then she takes it further, reminding us it's what we put our attention on that counts. She paraphrases letters from her grandmother:

"Yes, Dad's cough is getting worse, we have lost the house, there is no money and no work, but the tiger lilies are blooming, that lizard has found that spot of sun, the roses are holding despite the heat."

Cameron says her grandmother had figured it out that: "the quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention."

This woke me up, made me yearn for delight in my everyday moments. So now, I am paying attention, deepening my capacity for delight.

Yes, my dad's still struggling in the hospital, there's water standing in my daughter's closet, money is tight; but a whisper of hazelnut steam rises off my favorite coffee mug, a beam of morning light peeks through the window lighting up a single sunflower, the birds outside are singing a song of freedom...

Blogging is such a lovely way to capture - and share - moments of delight. I'm happy to be back.

Shifting Inward

After six years of carrying, birthing and nursing my two little chicks, I'm finally beginning to feel my body is my own again. This "return to self" has felt a bit like a fog lifting from around me. As the air clears, I catch little glimpses of who I am now. I see where I want to go. And I understand there is work to be done, gently and at it's own pace, to get there.

Now, as the seasons are shifting, I feel myself shifting too. Over the past week I have begun to move inward. And an easy peace has settled over me as I work to reinforce my nest.

My body is getting some much needed attention with a 10-day raw & whole food cleanse; more sleep; and a return to regular movement.

My creative spirit is beginning to stir as I embark on the 12-week Artist's Way workshop with my dear friend Rose. Having completed the workshop pre-babies, I look forward to revisiting the rich rewards of morning pages and artist's dates.

And my mind is slowly shifting from doing to being, allowing more room for nourishing myself with hot baths, journaling, reading and meditation.

This move inwards feels so good, like returning to a warm, cozy space you almost forgot was there. But then, there it is right before you... just waiting for your return.

It's Here...Sort Of

I've been waiting for what feels like forever for Fall to appear. Finally, the Autumnal Equinox arrived yesterday. But one would be pretty hard pressed to find any natural signs of the season here in the south. In fact, the temperature reached a blistering 95 degrees here yesterday afternoon! But the morning was pleasant, and Sage and I spent it looking for glimpses of Autumn at our local Children's Garden, with The Snail and little b. Little bits of brown and orange peeked out amongst a lot of lush greenery. It was just enough to make me smile, and help me hang on a bit longer...

Apples!

We don't have apple orchards down here, so celebrating Fall apple season takes some creativity. Last week, we had fun apple stamping, creating our own play apple market stand and baking an apple pie. Plus, of course, apple books: Apple Farmer Annie, Ten Red Apples, Apples Here! and The Apple Orchard.

And thank you Rose, for the yummy homemade apple butter on the New Moon...a perfect ending to apple week!