Tabla Rasa Casita: Our House
Recycling, purposing and bringing beauty to this land and our little Tabla Rasa Casita, Our House.
"Life used to be so hard but everything is easy cuz of you." That was the line from the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young Our House song that had me running out the front door to hug my Joey as he made me a huge garden bed of redwood, madrone and oak tree trunks and branches. I made him dance with me as the song played out. "I'll light the fire. You place the flowers in the vase That you bought today." Except I was getting two raised garden beds equivalent of sixty by ten feet, a side garden and spiral for wildflowers. (The picture on the left is what the yard used to look like).
Only a few songs are downloaded onto my phone and one that repeats often and fits the sweetness that I feel in our homestead. Tabla Rasa means blank slate and that is the suitable name for our little house, the grandness of the untouched acreage around us and the brand new community welcoming us so warmly.
I gave a Ritual Herbalism with Cannabis workshop for Self-Care Saturday, an Plant Shop event organized by my friend Rita where I met and connected with Talia, a fellow massage therapist. After visiting family, Joey and I took the long route home along the coast. We stopped off at Maple Creek Winery and ran into a couple who graduated same year from same school. We also became members - three hours of drinking later. Back at home, we repurposed crates as cabinets. I love the ingenuity and intimacy of these small homemaking acts.
“Staring at the fire
For hours and hours while I listen to you
Play your love songs all night long for me
Only for me
Come to me now (Come to me now)
And rest your head for just five minutes
Everything is done
Such a cozy room (Such a cozy room)
The windows are illuminated
By the evening sunshine through them
Fiery gems for you, only for you”
The blackberries had just begun to ripen. This year the bears will get most of them as we won’t be returning until after Labor Day. I still need to figure out what the periwinkle star flowers are, but when Mori Natura, a symposium sister, came to visit, she identified the pennyroyal growing everywhere. After snacking, she interviewed me for Positive Fantastic podcast and invited me warmly into the “Mendo coven.” Be still my witchy heart.
Joey and I visited our only neighbors, Mike and Liz, who shared an organic bottle of Frey Wine, which is owned by Mori's family - such serendipity, such Magick! Ann, my friend from the Waldorf days and whose house I moved into when I first began divorce proceedings in 2008 came to visit. We caught up on weeks of our lives and then listened in awe to the falling of Madrone leaves. We went to the Willits Farmer’s Market where I bought a Baba Yaga bowl. The next morning, Joey found two hollowed eggs. The Goddess wanted the dried calendula leaves and the joint too. On our last night, Talia and a few other symposium sisters showed up a party we were invited to by Kay, our real estate agent.
Today, my sister Megan sent ladies in our familia the message that we are in the Lion’s Gate Portal. I love that we share these things together. Now is the time for manifesting. Think of the things that you want. Say them aloud three times. Make your dreams come true! You are the Magick!
Making Gardens
Creating gardens and improving our sustainability at the Hollows
I love to plunge my hands into the dirt - especially in summer. Every morning I wake in Willits, I drink a leisurely cup of coffee listening to the forest birds singing. I pour the water and leftover grounds onto the garden and greet each new leaf or flower with deep affection. Each trip to the Hollows brings a new adventure. This time we tried out a new battery storage, hung out with Kobe and created gardens.
On Father’s Day, it was sweet to watch Joey and Kobe tetra a burned-out redwood bark to create a terrace for the small garden that I salute every morning. Joey had cleared away a huge patch of poison oak so that we could grow lavender around the cottage to keep the ticks at bay. We’ll see if it works! So far we are growing rosemary, holly, lavender, calendula, chamomile, and rose geranium. I’ve asked Mama Earth to stay wet in this shaded spot while we are gone and made sure to welcome the multitude of elementals and faeries to this garden!
We removed irrigation and weeded sixty more grow pots. The soil is still in most of the pots because we need to terrace hill for the vegetable patch and herb garden. My menfolk gathered fallen trunks of Douglas fir, Madrone and Oak and made a raised bed. Oh how I ached to put in some plants but since our plan is to visit for a week every month, and this garden is in full sun, I decided to wait. The plan is to make five more boxes here from what the forest provides.
Our new power station is a game changer with two 110V plugs and two chargers. This Yeti by Goal Zero only lost 25% of its charging capacity in five days with three people using it. Loved it. Now we have energy for longer stays.
We froze water in a stock pot at home and transported in a cooler to keep the food cold in the icebox. Unfortunately, the water hadn’t frozen solid so we had to buy ice blocks again. But the road has to be fixed by winter so that’s where we will invest next - culverts and rocks before a propane refrigerator. Sigh. Homesteading requires such patience. I’m certain its good for me.
There is a beautiful spring on the property that I thought I would bless with crystals, statues and prayers. Then Joey put up a trail camera and we discovered that the bear, mountain lion, and deer visit this place daily. This water is already made sacred by Mother Earth’s children.
Kobe and I spent Summer Solstice in Fort Bragg - just 45 minute drive through the redwood forest. We have the best conversations, especially under the trees. We found connection, healing and laughter on the longest day of the year. I delivered signed copies of my books to eclectic shops and independent bookstores in Mendocino and the following day as we visited Ukiah. We hung out in the cannabis lounge at the Plant Shop where I will be teaching my Ritual Herbalism class for their Wellness Day on July 30. On the final night of our stay, Kobe stepped up to sing and play guitar for five original songs he wrote at open mike night at Shanachie Pub in Willits.
