freebirds

something i wrote a while ago...

on a night such as this

when the amphibian symphony

wanes with the waxing

moon i can't help

but imagine my heart

this massive pump feeding my body

my breath in

and out

in and out

out and in

my heart is a lark

flapping against my chest

bones and beak and wing

my heart is a singing loon

a silly moon

my heart is thumping rapidly.

my soul is still

waiting

     waiting

        waiting like a dove

heart tucked beneath wing

still

listening,

stilled beating

and silly moon when

you go to sleep

the life-bearer

brings the new day

and my menagerie

tweet and whistle

and strain against

their bony bars.
i am free
i am free,
they sing
the moon to sleep.
(i am free!)


                                 (i am free!)






   




       (free as a bird.)




                        (FREE.)










zzzzz.

I wish Molly would pose for me like that!

David Byrne

Today I will blow bubbles in the hot, grey light.

Today I will clean up and clean out and tie up loose ends.

Today I found out that a cousin that I've never had the chance to meet

is on Big Break. That David Byrne is an awesome golfer. 

Go David!!!

Your family on both coasts support you and are sending you lots of luck and wishes.

(Top 5 and counting!)

Linda Gilkeson's List for June 24..Celebrate Carrot Day!

July 1st-- Carrot Day-- is nearly here! This is the ideal date to sow the large bed of carrots (and beets, rutabagas and winter radishes) to sustain you for next winter. The timing of planting for winter harvest is critical and doesn't depend on weather and soil temperature as planting does in the spring. The number of days left in the growing season are what is important for winter crops--even a long, warm fall can't compensate for planting too late because days are so short that plants grow very little. 

If you don't have seeds by now, you may find that suppliers are running low so you may not have a big choice. Don't worry about that: I find that any varieties of carrots and beets can be successful winter crops. The key is to grow them where the soil will be well-drained next winter--sitting in waterlogged soil is particularly fatal to beets, but no plants thrive in those conditions. You might need raised beds for winter root crops if your soil isn't well drained. On the other hand, you don't need to grow them where there will be good sun exposure during mid-winter as they won't be actively growing then and should be covered completely with mulch next December.

Today the cool, cloudy weather is ideal for starting a good stand of carrots, because it is will be easier to keep the bed evenly moist through the germination period. If the weather has changed to sunny and hot (ever the optimist...) at planting time, it will be hard to keep the seed zone moist all day. For summer seed beds, I water well, then cover them with burlap, single sheets of newspaper or old beach towels to keep the soil damp and cool; even in hot weather, seed beds stay moist for a couple of days before they need more water. Check under the cover daily for germination and remove it as soon as the very first tip of a seedling shows. Germination only takes a few days for rutabagas, up to 10 days for carrots.

Beets don't have a root maggot pest so there is no need to cover them. Where you have had a lot of leafminer damage in past years (brown blotches on leaves), you may want to grow the beets under a floating row cover until the end of September to stop these insects from laying eggs on leaves.

Whew-- this is getting to be too long-- so I will save the topic of squash pollination for next time.

Brussels sprouts: If you didn't start your own plants at the end of May, now is the time to buy seedlings from nurseries. On Salt Spring, the right size of starts are available at the Chorus Frog Farm stand (Rainbow Road, across from the swimming pool entrance). It is getting too late now to start Brussels sprouts from seeds and hope to have a crop.

Purple sprouting broccoli and winter cauliflower: Seed them now if you are growing  your own--or wait and buy started plants in a month from local suppliers.

Peas: Still not too late to plant peas for later summer.

For info on my books [including my new best seller (I love saying that!), Backyard Bounty] or to check my 2011 schedule for talks and presentations in your area see: www.lindagilkeson.ca

JUST A PERSONAL NOTE: MAKE SURE YOUR GARDEN IS DEER-PROOF. They're starting to be more aggressive in their search for food! (They have eaten our tomatoes three times) :( :( :(

they did it
we did it
I did it!
three plays, one show.
seven kids between 8-12.
I couldn't be more proud and happy for the kids
thankful to the parents
and proud and happy for me.
it might not sound all big and fancy,
but this was one of the largest, if not largest
youth project I did solo....

not solo.
completely credited and owed to Anna, Gemma, Ravi, Georgia, Mia, Lorne, and Carsten for coming out each week and giving me honest effort and a lot of laughs!!
honest effort leads to honest rewards and honestly,
I couldn't be more proud of each and every kid who performed today - not only theatre, but who sang or who played instruments with Diona's class.
GO GALIANO!!!!

just crazy enough.

silly picture post

pictures are worth thousands of words,

blah blah blah :)

but this is how i feel tonight.

the end.

more modern stuff

I'm not going to say exactly when I wrote these poems, but sometime between 2010-present.

Face
where is that girl?
the one who wends
and weaves with words
it is absurd that
i do not know her now.
she has become
the other side of the mirror
                                       (that mirrored woman mocks me).

how dare she look so wise,
so young.
which one of me
am I?
how can she know
what i have forgotten?
She who is so brave
how can she show
what was coming?

Honest Words

writing with twisted wrists

wringing wrists together

try to rub a nickle and dime

fall down the consumer ladder.

writing twisted truths with wit

witty truths from twisted wrists

writing truths from whispered lips

writing honest through twisted quips.

the end.

goodnight!

Eostre

Eostre. 

(more)

DAILY AFFIRMATIONS

• I live life without fear
• My creativity is energised
• I feel absolutely supercharged
• Today is my chance to be healthy
• My vital energy resurfaces naturally
• I embrace life in its absolute fullness
• I find my path following my inclinations
• My whole being reaches for the new dawn

Persephone

I won't only be doing greek/roman goddesses, but...

PERSEPHONE

more

Daily Affirmations

• I am as free as a bird
• I am free to be myself
• I accept myself as I am
• I am good and I know it
• I believe in my gifts and abilities
• I release my need to be humiliated
• I release my habit of self-criticism

Amaterasu

I discovered this site about 4 years ago when I was researching what else was out there.
I don't personally pay attention to much else besides the goddess descriptions...
but I like to come back to this website sometimes. It is fun. And also helpful.

Today, I am finding meditating on these goddess to be helpful. Or, well, I will meditate on these goddesses today to help myself. The affirmations I chose for today are from Amaterasu.

• I radiate love 
• I shine with joy 
• My smile comes easily 
• My peace is shared peace 
• I am weightless and free of burden 
• Hard times make me stronger 
• I blossom in response to adversity 
• I have great joy, and therefore great energy

Ok. Ok
Last music video post for a while.
Promise.
But seriously.
This song is gonna bring me outta the darkness.
Anyone want to cover this??

Mr. Big, give my heart back!!

Apparently I hade a lot of fun yesterday.
Whoops!
Today I am typing up a script I wrote for my theatre class.
Oh dear, there is so much to sort out.
I know I kept promising more "helpful" posts but...
here are some songs I'm trying to learn/find people to
learn and play them with me.
You in?

I've been making my own music, too..
buuut just for fun...
well, really I would love to cover this song!!
This video makes me smile and laugh.

More posting later today, methinks.

Hand Fish!

These are Feet Fish and Hand Fish puppets we made the other day...
This picture pretty much sums up my day :)
Had my first community league softball game!!!!
Held my own and caught this super-wicked fly ball.
Everyone played well, and wow.
I can't even talk about how much fun I hade - don't think I stopped grinning
like a fool for even a minute.
So yes. Today was a good day.

interviews!

Tomorrow I get to participate in my first interview...
AS THE INTERVIEWER.
excellent.
More on this, later.

maybe I should wear my glasses?

kids are great

this is why I love working with kids.

Here is a picture of last year's harvest. We finally live somewhere where we can have a garden, and garden we did. I posted this picture to remind myself of how happy I am when my hard work pays off.

I love where I live. This part of the Island gets lots of sunshine and my friend Matt has a phenomenal garden nearby. I posted this to remind myself of what I could have if I work hard enough. And to remember to relax and chew the cud.

Ohhh Halloween. You were the best one in years, 2010. The best part was the costumes..but how willingly people got and STAYED in character...

Sunday Brunches...with or without mimosas. Community is good. And only as strong as you make them!

Going back East for my 25th birthday.

A Newfoundland journal is coming up soon...

but for now..

ORIGINAL MONEY!!!!

post #69

This is Post #69 for me, so I thought I'd post something about hot dirtiness....
working in the garden!!!


Here are some more excellent notes from Linda Gilkeson...


Fruit Flower Pollination:  With the continuously cold weather this spring set to be alleviated this week with the forecast of sunshine, more fruit trees and bushes will burst into bloom. But the way the spring has been, you may have noticed there are still few bees out. Even though native species, such as bumblebees and mason/orchard bees, will work in cooler conditions than honey-bees, no bees work in cold and rainy weather. So this year you might want to help out the pollination effort yourself. For this you will need a small, clean, dry brush (the cheapest watercolour brush is fine) to move pollen between flowers. This is most feasible on dwarf fruit trees or on branches that are easy to reach. When I have hand pollinated trees in past years there have been noticeably more fruit on the parts of trees I could reach to pollinate.

To make this effort worthwhile you do have to know whether your fruit trees are self-fertile or whether they need cross-pollination from a different variety.

·         For fruit varieties that are self-fertile (many plums, most peaches, some sweet cherries, all sour cherries ), you only need to move pollen within each flower and between flowers in the same tree. Just take the brush and dap gently in the centre of each flower.

·         For fruit varieties that must be cross-pollinated (all apples, all pears, a few plums and some sweet cherries) you will need to move pollen from the flowers of one variety to flowers of another variety (and vice versa). If there are lots of flowers on the trees, you can pick off clusters of flowers and take them to the tree to be pollinated. Dab back and forth between the flower cluster in your hand and the flowers on the tree.

If you look closely at the flowers, you will see the structures (anthers) that carry the pollen are sticking out a bit around the centre of the flower. There is only a short period of time when pollen seems to be present, even though the flower is open longer. There isn't very much pollen even at prime time so it won't look like much is on the brush when you gently brush it over the anthers.  If nothing else, this exercise will give you a first-hand appreciation of the immense value of bees!


More about peas: A couple of people asked me this week if it is too late to plant peas--and yet others are wondering if it is still too cold to seed them outdoors. So just to set everyone's mind at rest: you can start peas any time all spring. I sow batches about a  month apart up until the end of June. The late June peas usually produce until October. As it is still pretty cold for germination I started my second planting of peas indoors in vermiculite last week, but if the warmer weather this weekend pans out, the soil should finally warm up enough to sow directly. For late peas, it is a good idea to grow varieties listed as resistant to pea enation virus (AKA enation mosaic virus). This virus is spread by aphids in mid-summer and causes distorted pods, mottled leaves and stunted growth. I haven't seen it in spring sown peas, but I have seen it on Salt Spring in August, so for later plantings I grow enation resistant varieties, such as: snap peas 'Cascadia', 'Sugar Ann', 'Sugar Lace';  shelling peas 'Aladdin'; snow peas 'Oregon Giant'.

Bragging Corner: My new book, Backyard Bounty, is at #2 on the BC Best Sellers list this week--thanks to all of you that bought a copy!

For info on my books or to check my 2011 schedule for talks and presentations in your area see: www.lindagilkeson.ca

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can read all of my previous messages on the Salt Spring Energy Strategy website:  www.saltspringenergystrategy.org

baby turkeys!!!

I love baby turkeys. I just really, really love baby turkeys! I really want a flock like this one.
They look all non-turkey like in this picture, but oh MAN when they get excited they puff out
just like real little turkey-birds and my heart grows three times too big inside of my chest.

I have so many things to post, but not enough hours to sleep...
time to count sheep!

one!

two!

goodnight,
much love.
dream little dreams of good things
tonight.

i just really really love cats!

fine.
someone who might just possibly love cats more than myself.
really,
i just LOVE MOLLY.

(is that even a cat?)
(serious gardening posts coming soon, I swear)
goodnight,
it is time to dream of lily pads!

derpin' around

This comic amuses me so much. It also highlights a word the internet taught me which demands more usage by it's very existence. Thank you, BK, once again you enrich my life.

Where would I be without my kaffeine!??!!?

tee hee.

Born Like an Artist

Margrethe Neverdahl - jelly vampire - Like an Artist

This comic was sent to me by an old friend, Oryan.

It cheered me up and inspired me at a time when I was not looking for expecting it.

goodnight.
tonight,
je suis thinking of many things.
yo estoy decoding morse code messages
from winking midnight stars.
i think my spanish
exceeds my french.

that reminds me..

ah, I will save it for tomorrow. 

computer = alive and well

My computer is fixed!!!!!
Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you
Stephen.

To illustrate my joy, I typed
- my computer is fixed -
into Google and here is what I got.
I hope these pictures express what I am unable to do with words...

....very strange, what you can find on the internet.
I will start posting with a vengeance as soon as I get my new pictures on this BEAST of a re-vamped computer. Technology is starting to intrigue me.
just the tiniest bit!!