Gemstones, dinosaur bones, and baby trees

These days I keep waking up WAY too early. The upside is that I can garden, workout, and hike before it gets hot. 

   On Saturday I started my very-early-in-the-morning day with my modified yoga practice. I still cannot do any poses that require using my hands and elbows because they are still very angry with carpal tunnel and tendinitis.         

   Afterwards, feeling less stiff and more relaxed, I went for a healing six kilometer hike that included walking in the park alongside Ashland Creek. I hugged my favorite tree as I made my way up the valley through the park and towards the woods. Then I admired the views of town, the valley, and the mountains as I walked back into town.

   When I got home my Gardening Witch self dragged me outside and I starting weeding. I just cannot seem to stop myself! It’s a compulsion. The most tenacious, annoying, un-pullable weeds grow around the bases of our rose trees. This means that I have to get down on my hands and knees and cut the blasted things with scissors; while trying to dodge being skewered by vicious rose thorns. 

   Next on the agenda was a trip to town with Brian to visit the farmer’s market. We bought sugar snap peas, sinfully delicious morning buns for Sunday’s breakfast, and a French almond cake. I adore this cake, which is simple and yet so tasty.

   We then walked to the Rocks Gemshow which was being held in the Ashland Historic Armory downtown. Both Bri and I are geology nuts and we love rocks and fossils. Ooh the treasures we saw. I saw rocks and fossils that blew my mind, and others that I deeply coveted; one day I’d like to get a pair of Oregon sunstone earrings; these lovely gems are only found in eastern Oregon. Typically sunstones are a lovely peach color, but there are also Oregon sunstones that are a bright yellow, a golden green, or a Cabernet red. 

   I did end up buying a very different but still very fabulous piece of jewelry. It’s a polished piece 

of dinosaur bone that has been turned into a pendent. It is gorgeous and I love it. Dinosaur bone! How wild is that! 

   Next we headed off to a local nursery so that I could buy some Bearberry ground-cover plants. I am hoping that they will green up and stabilize a slope in our back yard that is prone to erosion. They are hardy plants that are very forgiving when conditions are suboptimal.  

   Over the last few weeks I have dug up and potted some volunteer crab apple trees which I will plant at the top of the slope, and in other locations around the house. The little crabapples keep my baby oaks, pines, and spruce trees company in the shade of our big and very beautiful blue spruce. My baby tree nursery is growing by leaps and bounds. 

   I’m dreaming of a future Swallow Hill Farm that has oaks, pines, and crabapple trees around the house, around and above the barn, and below the vineyard. It will create such beautiful patchwork of different shades of green.

Photos: An Oregon sunstone and my dinosaur bone pendent.