happy spring weekend

hope you have lots of lovely spring activities planned for the weekend.
we will be attending the symphony tonight to hear and see rachmaninoff's piano concerto no. three.
this weekend will be an easy weekend at home: reading, picnicking, walking, patio eating, biking.

thank you, readers, for all of your support on this blog.
it makes my heart happy to know you're out there.

leaving this desk for the red rock desert

i've been at my desk all week working on a paper...which of course i have thrown in the trash

as i've realized i need to start from square one. oh the joys of literary criticism.

part of me wonders if i should even be going on a little road trip down south to the desert this weekend

since i've got a lot of writing to do, but that part of me, fortunately, is quite faint.

i think i'm too tired to worry about being responsible this weekend...

though i will be bringing my laptop, books, and notes with all intentions of waking before the rest of the crew

to think about essential movements of a culture, the macro and the micro, represented in a travel novel.

wish me luck.

can't wait for a little sunshine and vast, beautiful scenery to bathe in.

happy weekend!

we've been enjoying the little winter that is still clinging on in the mountains...

last week ceej, my brother, and i took my sister-in-law up to the mountains for her

first backcountry skiing experience. she caught on quickly and was a champ.

these days we haven't seen much snow...we're getting anxious about this drought.

not only do we need snow to ski on, but we'll need water to drink throughout the coming year.

this also explains my frustration with local congressmen trying to sell watershed land

to private corporations for development.  it's federal land now--which means for all of you

living in the states it's your land too. you could even give your own congressman a heads-up

with a nice little email to help us here in utah battle to keep our watershed pure...

sorry for that little rampage. i just can't help myself. you know how i love my mountains.

anyway, i am looking forward to this weekend. we have a little theme party planned,

and i can hardly wait for ceej to transform into samwise and i get to wear my elven garb,

and brush up on my elvish. totally geeking out.

hope you have lovely plans for the weekend. see you next week!

settling in for a cozy weekend as the snow is on its way

we had a "warm" night last night, and the wind has been getting stronger throughout the day...

the clouds are here now, and i am cozy in my house...but alone.

ceej is testing out his designs down in the desert for a few days,

and i am going about my daily routine, finishing out my days with knitting, violin, & jane austen movies.

i have been rounding up all the comfort foods in my house to keep me warm:

spiced hot milk, tea, eggs to make scones, and butter to renew my supply of ghee.

i need lots of comfort these days....seems that things tend to fall apart a bit when ceej is gone.

how does that happen? things happen that i most want to talk to ceej about

and he's not even available via cell phone. but i'm oh so glad he gets to spend some

much needed time in his favorite place on earth...

guaranteed i'll talk his ear off when he returns home late sunday night.

we'll have some hot cocoa with the remainder of our homemade marshmallows,

and fall asleep holding hands in bed with the space heater on to keep us extra snug.

happy weekend. keep warm.

this is what life looks like : gathering with friends for a weekend of autumn

what a perfectly content feeling i have after this weekend.

there's something about gathering with friends at harvest time

when the frost is just outside your door and the grass is golden at evening...

friday night we hopped in the car with one of our favorite couples,

and drove down to the little town of spring city to stay

with another favorite couple in their amazing little home.

they live in the old school house. it's a dream indeed.

they live on an acre of land that is perfectly wild, 

and fruit trees scattered about. i didn't want to leave such peace.

there were many meals together: butternut squash soup, bread,

homemade salsa, heirloom tomatoes, fresh peaches, and ice cream.

i love spending so much time with such good people. 

it makes me feel as if i've walked into a wallace stegner book,

and we will all grow old together, gathering as often as possible.

we walked in a beautiful canyon that has welcomed autumn

and winter has even begun to show its hand.

we stopped by a pottery shop i've been wanting to visit for years

{ceej and i got two perfect little mugs for sipping hot apple cider}

we visited a local pumpkin patch and picked out

our perfect little pumpkins for decorating and eating.

we practiced searching for avalanche beacons in preparation

for the upcoming ski season.

we told ghost stories while eating chocolate chip cookies and milk.

it really truly was perfect.

last night i gathered with some of my favorite women to talk about...

women. 

we talked about our own seeking, understanding, questions, desires;

we sang one of my most favorite old irish folk melodies around the piano.

these are my very own "little women" and i couldn't be more grateful

for women who can see and hear and feel what life is all about.

grateful to tears for all of the wonderful people in my life.

hope you had a lovely weekend gathering with those you love.

{photos by me, ceej, and matt}