Sunday, July 6, 2008

Into The Nettle Patch ... and Out

OWIE, ouch, ouch, ouch! No longer can I brag of my prowess on the "balance beam" on the property. I took a fall off the four foot high log and landed in the nettle patch.
My arms and hands are still stinging.
I somehow twirled in space and landed on my back parallel to the log.
I landed on my right side - shoulder and back of my noggin colliding with the ground. The Mister heard my whoops as I tried to keep my balance. "Are you all right?" he yelled.
I was still taking inventory.
"I guess so," I said. I waited a while for my mind to catch up with my flight. Fear not. The camera still worked. That was most important right then. I didn't want to go under the log and I couldn't go over. I staggered to the path I'd made along the creek and then walked up to check in with him. He was working on a roof for the outhouse.
He didn't seem too concerned when I told him about the nettle patch. "Well, you made it up here by yourself, didn't you?" I couldn't deny that.
I know what you're thinking: He's cold hearted and not much of a gentleman. (And he looks so nice in his pictures.)
Well, he was right. I did seem to be able to walk and talk - both at the same time. So I guess I will live. We'll see how lively I am tomorrow jumping out of bed. (The fall happened today, Sunday.)
The wild sweet peas were blooming on our way down the road to the property on Saturday. They love the sunshine.
I found the pale leaf laying on the path above the bridge. Looks like it didn't get its share of nourishment and fell from the tree.
We set up camp to stay the night and had to put up the tent because it was "Oregon sprinkling." It stopped around 6 p.m. For dinner I wrapped up potatoes, carrots, onions and red snapper in foil and they cooked over the fire. Oh, sitting around the campfire eating that delicious stuff - with caramelized onions. Yum!
Didn't see any stars by 10 p.m. but it was time for bed. Sort of cool that evening. The flannel sleeping bag felt good.
The next morning, while the Mister started a fire, I went for a walk up at the sunny entrance to the property to look over the berry situation. I found only a few wild blackberries - which I like the best- but they're not quite ripe yet. There were lots of Himalayan berries coming into flower and they're sort of pretty blooms, aren't they?
When I got back to camp I mixed up some pancakes, adding vanilla to it like a woman at the grocery store told me she did. Ooh la la! These pancakes were delicioso! With the fried egg on top and a nice warm fire - and a cup of black coffee - I was in heaven.
The Mister is a good cook. He also wanted to make sure his hair looked OK. Guess he thinks he's a big blog star now that he's made the big time on mine.
I don't know how I'll keep him humble. Especially after you see the outhouse he's building. For now it must remain unseen, because there's no picture. But soon, I guarantee.
It was a busy weekend. Sometimes it seems there's too much work and not enough time to just do nothing.
The faster life goes, the faster we seem to go to make the time we have left go further.
I'm not sure that's the best way to do it, but that's how I seem to be dealing with the fleeting chances I have to do everything I want to do.
I feel as if I wasted so much time while I was young that I want the chance to get a whole lot of things done before I have to say adios.
I did work on art while I was up in the woods, if you can believe that! Here you go. Two painted journal pages - with no writing ... yet. The yellow leaf atop the ferns caught my eye on the way out. While the Mister locked the gate I took one last photo of our good time.
By the way, while we were sitting by the fire at lunch - before we left today - the Mister fell out of his folding chair. After my fall, and his lack of concern, I had to laugh. In fact, I laughed so hard I peed my pants. There! My first and last admission of such an occurrence! We have a lot of fun laughing together and today was no exception - femminismo

2 comments:

Candace said...

Wow, Jeanne, hope you are doing well now. And those journal pages... gorgeous and their subtlety is a large part of the charm. Love them...!

You be careful on your nature walks now! (Will there be an artistically rendered moon on the outhouse door?)

Candace

Southern Girl said...

Thanks for stopping by over at Library Clocks...I've been chipping away at your posts throughout the day, and AM LOVING YOUR BLOG! (: Will definitely check back often!