My friend Heather mentioned she had some prickly pear tuna in her yard. Would I want to come over to prevent “borrowing” from neighbors?

Indeed. The prickly pear are nearly over-ripe by now. These ruby red gems were easy to pluck. I used my trusty tools and followed the guidelines I learned in class.

Bucket, gloves, tongs, brush to get rid of the glochids (tiny spines). Heather and I went to town.

10 minutes later and I had a bucket full of fruit.

Tonight I am taking a giant leap into the domestic foray of canning. Oh, the exciting life I lead. I’m going to get the resident Africans to pitch in too. It should be fun! I’m using a trusty prickly pear Martha Stewart jam recipe. Wish me luck. Tomorrow I’ll hopefully post the sticky sweet results!

~K

P.S. Hoping there is some leftover to boil down for a margarita syrup. My Mexican beach vacation is just 4 weeks away and I’m already dreaming of the frozen drinks…

P.P.S. In a true Martha move, I’m planning on putting a couple loaves of No Knead bread out to rise tonight so I can bake them tomorrow to deliver with the jam to friends. I always come up with these crazy plans. I’ll be amused to see if it actually comes together!

Today I found myself smiling at nothing, staring at the sky and being sincerely grateful for a three-day weekend. I was in desperate need for a recharge. It’s been three days of bliss, but today was particularly sweet. I have an assignment for the local newspaper to write an article on prickly pear harvesting and decided to take a formal class at the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. I’d been there once a few years ago and truly enjoyed the walks through varying gardens. I knew today would be no different.

It took about 45 minutes to arrive, although it would have been much faster if I hadn’t taken so much time to gawk at the beauty of the Superstitions. From Tempe, this mountain range is hazy and towering. Up close, it is a majestic giant that I couldn’t get enough of. The purple and red rock faces, the soft green cacti, the flowering desert due to recent rains — all perfectly framed with giant soft cuddly white clouds and a crisp blue sky. It was truly ethereal.

The class was fantastic too. More than 60 people crammed into a pavillion to see how to harvest prickly pear tunas and their pads to be used in a variety of recipes. I’m going to use several of these for future Jars of Renewal projects, hopefully including the prickly pear syrup for margaritas. Eating locally can be delicious even in the desert.

My perfect day — time to reconnect with nature, listen and sing along to super music, eat a great picnic lunch, photograph and write, learn something new, connect with other happy hippies and time to blog. Life truly is great.

~K

MoziEsme’s mama posted a lovely quote this week about humility, and how faith guides us to remember to praise God first and be uncomfortable with other applause. Better yet, to redirect personal praise toward God, remembering that without faith, without His direction, we are simply lost. This is something that is regularly in the back of my mind. I think being able to accept praise gracefully is important, especially so for women in the workplace and more so when it comes to complimenting a woman’s appearance. How often do you hear a friend deflect your kind words with, “Oh no, I am so fat.” Or “Eh? This old dress? It was so cheap!” Learning to accept praise can be a challenge.
Then again, acceptance of praise and boasting about your own accomplishments are two entirely different things. The one aspect I want to change about this journal is the egotistical tone. I fear I am perceived as quite conceited and I can see why.
Look what I made!
Look what I cooked!
Look where I traveled!
ME ME ME!

Yikes. I need to take a step back and spend time reflecting on what fuels my desire to feed this blog, which ultimately strokes my ego. Ideally, I would love to see it make a turn toward something much more meaningful.

In the meantime, an inspiring quote from MoziEsme’s Mama:
A Return to Love, by Marianne Williamson:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

We are powerful beyond nature.
~K

Nora Desert, founder of the So Nora Dating Club, is happy to announce a new crop of ladies interested in finding their soil mates:

Meet Bea. “I love to cook. Bring a good bottle of emulsion and let’s get to know each other.”

Trish: “I love to swim, so pack your trunks! You bring the watering can, I’ll have the soil, and let’s see if we can’t figure out how to make it work.”

Rose: “Yes, my parents found the name ironic. No, I’m not sickly sweet. Apply only if you can complete the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle. Oh, and I prefer nitrates over phosphates, fyi.”

Lola: “I like coffee, bookstores and Star Trek. Do you like chess?”

Marnie: “Ohmygod! This is so fun! We should totally go out for lattes and shoe shopping. You need shoes, right? I mean, your pot is definitely leaning. Not to be rude, but I seriously think we need to go shoe shopping. See you at Lowe’s?”

Valeria: “Habla Espanol?”

Pilar: “My favorite days are 100 degrees. I love the soil I’m planted in and can’t imagine a vista better than mine from this patio. If you’d like regular sun, occasional rain and a good solid foundation, apply within.”

Marnie: “Ohmygod. I cannot believe you just said ‘apply within!’ hee hee!”
~K

Pachamama is beloved in South America and I find the idea of an earth goddess looking over us endearing. Rather than bemoan all the recycling we should be doing for Earth Day (Soapbox tone noted, Erin), I’ll say:
Querida Pachamama,
Thanks for all the cool stuff here on this third planet from the sun that doesn’t cost a dime: dark African nights with the Milky Way strung across the sky in a tangle of cosmic creation; the first sight of an ocean or the Grand Canyon, sunsets in Phoenix in August when the sky seems to be on fire, butterflies swirling about when you are on a long hike, silky white saguaro blooms gathered in late Spring crowns, shocking peonies, forests of tall pine that smell like butterscotch, animals so pretty they make you blush in awe, the smell of the desert after a long rain, monsoon season, honey, coffee, grapefruit, wine and the humans who once upon a time came up with the bagel/tortilla/bakery.
Gracias Mama Earth!

~K

P.S. I’m sporting my Chacos and birdie messenger bag today and trying yet again to make sense of the public transportation available to East Valley residents who work downtown. Carpooled in, bussing/walking home. I’ve got my camera ready for another fun urban adventure.

Dear Fin,
Guess what? In all my domestic prowess (roar), I realized mid-sewing the March pintuck table runner project that really what I was learning here was how to sew a pleat. Score! You know how many of my skirts hang way too low because I’ve never been sure how to pleat in an inch here and an inch there? Well, guess what? I mastered the pleat this weekend with my entry to the Finny and Donk’s Sewing Adventure.

B.P. Before pintucks. Also, A.C. After cats.

I figured my little kitchen side table needed some sprucing. Now that my casa is happily cat free, my houseplants needed to be repotted. Alas, my cutting of that begonia my great-grandfather gave my great-grandmother when he was courting her? Didn’t make it through the 10 weeks with kitties. Thankfully my Tucson grannie has more of the plant and I can snatch another cutting next time I visit.

The other plants were very pleased to see bigger pots, fresh soil and their canvas pintucked table runner. Voila! Now, you get to pick the April project. I’m not going to influence you (place mats) but you know what my kitchen could use (place mats)? I am thinking my community dinners would be that much more fun with a bit of canvas pintucked place mats to rock the table. Canvas because my dinners already look like they are sponsored by Salvation Army. Nothing matches. Might as well try to blend the crazy collection of cloth napkins with something neutral.

Looking forward to your selection and browsing that fabulous photo pool to see how everyone else pleated themselves silly.

~K

One of the many reasons I love Holy Week, Spring and Easter is that it is a time to wipe the slate clean and start over. I’m taking an internal inventory this week, coming up with some new life plans and trying to take quiet time to truly listen to my faith and be in conversation with God. I feel like these Mexican poppies — full of life, not quite yet open, uncertain of what lies ahead but willing to turn my face to the sun with faith that it will all work out for the best.

Happy first day of Spring to all,
Kelli

The patio clean up of 2007, BEFORE:

Several hours of elbow grease, a good broom, a dozen plants and a couple bags of mulch later, AFTER:

It may not appear that big a change, but let me tell you — I went from a dust bowl to a livable space. I am so tickled to finally be entertaining outside. I’ve had this home and hand-me-down patio set for years — but just started having friends over to enjoy this cooler weather and cleaned up environment last week. Since, I’ve served butternut squash lasagna, banana flax pancakes, chicken enchiladas and margaritas from this table with half a dozen friends leaving happy and mildly annoyed with the mosquito population. (If we had Fall and not 90-degree post-summer, there would be no mosquitoes, see.)

My dream for this patio is to install a small retention wall around the mulchy-garden area and grow veggies, all with an efficient drainage and drip system. These are December’s projects; I’m pacing myself both in budget and effort. In the meantime, the painting inside continues. I’m hoping my fairy godmother is going to show up at anytime and help. Or at least bring presents.

~K

I once dated a very conservative republican boy who laughed at my hippie ways. We were oddly matched, indeed, but there is something to that “opposites attract” thing. We spent several months bantering, including a time or two when he would turn beet red in frustration because I wouldn’t sip the party line Kool Aid. At the time I was living with three of my closest friends, and this boy — with the most beautiful blue eyes — embarrassed the tar out of me one evening by announcing in front of everyone that he, in fact, “didn’t like trees.”
Only a moron doesn’t like trees.
To change his mind (and fully mock him), I bought him a membership to the National Arbor Day Foundation for Christmas. By the time his tiny trees and membership packet arrived in the mail, we’d broken up.
I planted those little trees with love, and then slapped an “I love Trees!” bumper sticker on my car to seal the deal. Seriously.
I’ve never said I had good taste in men. But trees? They are easy to love.

Happy Arbor Day!

~K

Spring in Santa Fe, inspired by Jane:

~ak