Life on the Ranch lately
These days on the ranch, between wild and torrential storms that muddy our boots and bring down trees that bring down power lines that bring down our electricity, that leave our little ranch family making dinner in ocean house by candlelight, and the softer, more polite rains—the ones that fall gently on the land, pitter-pattering lightly on the roof of my tiny house, through the eucalyptus, through the cypress and its lacey lichen—in those respites between rains and winds, in the moments of stillness and a little sunshine, especially early in the morning, I can smell a sweetness in the air. It is the delicate, almost electrifying sweetness that wakes me up out of a quiet wintering and carries with it the promise of spring.
So far, February has been a rain-filled month for us. We bid farewell to the glorious and sustained sun of January and jumped back into our spring programs with optimism and rain pants amidst the weather, with the sound of waves crashing powerfully against our rocky shore. With students, we observe the ephemeral waterfall which forms on the slope above the ranch, just below the road, which winds down through the bright green pasture and creates an entertaining obstacle course as it flows right by the gate to our goat and sheep barn, and then continues on into the coyote brush and blackberry, eventually down between the coops and creamery, where our ducks waddle quickly over to delight in the exciting watery habitat, and then it flows down even further, bubbling through the ivy and nasturtium, out of sight, to the Pacific.
But still, I’ve caught that promising and light sweetness of spring in the air a handful of times these past weeks. I’ve seen it too in the blue-violet hound’s tongue wildflowers blooming on the trail above Slide, or while watching our not-so-little-anymore duckling Tsunami get a hang of playing in the stream with the flock. I’ve felt it in those extra moments of sunlight at the end of each lengthening day, and while observing our resident-bobcat sunbathing mid-afternoon in the garden under the apple tree.
To share some of this sweetness with you all, here are some photos from the ranch recently. cheers :) moselle // maple
p.s. I will be leading a natural dye workshop in our beautiful garden next Saturday morning, March 8th! We have been busy experimenting with different dye pigments and our sheep wool and are excited to share some different dyeing methods. This will be an awesome opportunity to learn a bit about the science and chemistry of natural dyes, and get comfortable experimenting and making art in your local environment! Info on our website:)
