liminal_space | when the quiet deafens

my "happy light" arrived friday and i've had it on quite a bit since then since the weather has been composed of lots of clouds, lots of grey, and lots of drizzle. while i appreciate any and all bright light right now, i was hoping for more of a hard hit of "it feels like sunshine!"

oh, well. tuesday and wednesday are sunny days and i'm going to take advantage of them.

[i remember watching /twilight/ and thinking how i would just LOVE to live in that sort of environment. now that i find myself actually LIVING in the not-so-sunny land of permacloud, i am sort of couching my enthusiasm.]

the chicks are doing really, really well and three of the girls are almost fully feathered. two or three times a day, we go out to the garden shed and open the top of their brooder so they can hop out and explore. mostly, they just like to climb and snuggle on us and it's all cute and sweet until they take a big poo.

chickens have no shame about their poopin'.

we have mitigated getting poop on our clothes through clever placement of paper towels, and i continue to mentally design chicken diapers.

anyway, coop placement plans have changed once again, but i THINK i'm happy with where we're putting it and their run.

in other homestead news, the ground for the barn was leveled yesterday and excavator guy is starting work on the arena today or some other time this week. once sod is pushed off and the ground is leveled, gravel is coming, sand is coming, and we'll be ready to start fencing. wow! it looks like a horse or two will really be here by summer! =D

then come the alpacas, goats, and tigers and i'll be done. o.O

friday mister and i went to duluth for a date day and had an OK sushi lunch before watching "the mummy" (the 1999 and most best version) at a nice little theater. i had movie popcorn for the first time in i don't know how long and you know what? i could TELL it was good popcorn, i ATE IT like it was good popcorn, but.....i would have been OK without.

next time we go to the movies? i don't know if i'll want it — it will be interesting to see if i can enjoy a movie without popcorn in hand.

[funny side note: i do NOT like touching popcorn and at home use chopsticks to eat it. i snuck in a pair and used them with my movie popcorn. lol]

it was nice being out with just the two of us and i think we need to do it more often. so much has changed in our relationship and i still find myself not sure of my bearings. it's weird. he's like the most constant thing in my life, something i depend upon just as much as the air i breathe, but i feel a disconnect. then again, i feel a disconnect with EVERYTHING right now. :(

yesterday we had more fam time and went to bayfield, wi — which reminded me SO MUCH of cambria, ca (especially if i squinted) that i felt a sense of being at home which was really, really nice. we had a great lunch, did some touristy shopping, and had a little sit down at a coffee place that served the BEST chai latte i have ever had.

i'm not kidding. it was SUBLIME. there was a spicey heat to it that i first found a little offputting, but after a few sips, i was in heaven. kid got a caramel latte and it was also delicious. the boys behind the counter liked her a lot more than me....she got hearts:

love :)

she pointed out that my chai latte probably was not easy to make hearts in. i pointed out she's 17 and gorgeous and the boy was 19 and adorable. she blushed and muttered and ignored me. ;)

i would like to go back this week for another one. lol

i just pulled a focaccia gift out of the oven. she sure is a pretty little loaf:

gimme yr carbs

i could have put more olive oil on the garlic, but i really love the caramelized brown parts and always hope others will as well. it's a testament to my willpower that i'm not lying and saying the bread was a fail and i'd have to do another loaf for a gift. ;)

so that's what's what right now.

be well, lovelies.