Ruth learning her vegetables!

She has all the ingredients to make a great stir-fry, she says. We went to the urologist today and it looks like she will be on a low grade antibiotic for a few months (!) as a preventative measure. The urologist is thinking (and hoping) that it is an immune system glitch that will work itself out as she gets older and develops more. If when we take her off the antibiotics she gets another, then it is most likely some anatomical abnormality that has not thus far been detected by the tests she has gone through, and she will need more tests at that point. Our poor little dumpling.

I hope to blog about the farm happenings soon! Lots of bulb plantings and planning going on.

Birthday wishes

So world, today is my birthday. It has been a great day. I woke up to my daughter smiling smiling smiling and cooing, which of course made me smile and coo back. I got some great presents, and many wonderful birthday calls. I cut my first decent bunch of anemones that are now gracing our table, sounding out their glory. Ruth got to ride my brother's tortoise, Percival, which was oh so entertaining. Stuart shaved his beard for me, so I am now able to see his beautiful face.

This past Sunday we had to go back to ER with Ruth as she had a 103 temperature. Yet another UTI. That's 3 in 10 weeks. Another round of antibiotics. Luckily she did not have to have a spinal tap this time and we did not have to be admitted. But it was a high stress day and morale has been a little low since. The doctors are telling us our case is 'interesting.' Not a good thing. We now have an appointment with a urologist in a couple weeks. So this year my birthday wish is for Ruth to not have anymore infections and for all this to be over. It's so frightening, the fragility of a small body. Yet at the same time she is so tenacious, so strong. We'll get through this. Maybe she just needs more magical tortoise rides. Her new favorite mode of transportation.

Quinoa Salad, Watermelon Radishes, 1st Anemones

Blue Monkey, you're so silly!

Mobile Fascination; Harvesting Carrots

Signing up members for our 1st Winter flower CSA!!!

We are officially signing up members for our 1st ever winter flower CSA! 7 weeks of fresh, locally grown flowers for $100. What a great time to have some living color in your life. It will run it for 7 weeks, starting the third week in February and it will go through all of March. You will receive tulips, anemones, icelandic poppies, and ranunculus. These are our longest lasting, favorite flowers of the year, all in one stretch! If you haven't had locally grown tulips in your house before, you will be sure to notice the difference. We never use any chemicals, herbicides, or pesticides on our flowers either. This CSA would also be the perfect gift for a loved one as it keeps on giving. What a great present for the holidays.

Our pick up locations will be:

wednesdays at two locations in Durham....we're still working out exactly where but we think somewhere near the downtown area and also near the whole foods

wednesdays in Chapel Hill at Foster's Market

Saturdays at the Durham Farmers' Market

Please send us an email to bluebirdmeadowsnc@yahoo.com if you are interested or have any questions!

Official Frost Celebration

This pumpkin is called 'lunch lady'. Kind of cruel, but usually elicits a giggle. We are loving this cold weather, bundling up and taking walks around our property. It is always such a relief to reach this point in the season where things grow so slow it's a month to month type of progress instead of day to day. Not that there aren't things to do every day; there is just a more relaxed feel to the pressure of getting it done. We now need to focus on this winter's flower CSA and next season's garden.

It's been hard for me to deal with such a profound shift in my life, having this beautiful baby. My life was so intensely tied up in the farm and now it is all Ruth all the time. To so suddenly have to let go of so many things is probably the hardest thing about having a child for me. But when I get to whisper to Ruth in the quiet moments about our friendship and how we'll learn so much from each other in this brief existence we have here, I tear up a little and experience a weird but profound feeling I've never felt before, and there isn't anything in my life to which I can compare that feeling. So I guess that feeling is what motherhood is all about. And of course changing lots of poopy diapers day after day.