Such a dark, cozy Sunday morning with the atmospheric river above us drifting into the bit higher ridge a mile to the east and dropping it's rainy abundance here. A morning made for lingering over coffee, reading and Zadie keeping our feet warm.
Zadie was a gift from a friend, and what a gift. She is pure love wrapping an inner strength that her sweet disposition belies. It was Zadie who stood off a cougar last year when it attacked one of our ewes. When it became obvious Zadie needed a new home due to her sheer size, our friend offered her to us when she could have easily sold her for a price befitting a well bred livestock guardian dog. But the truth is knowing where Zadie is and that she has a home where she is loved was more important to our friend than money. Everyone benefits.
The first piece I read this morning in a wonderful online magazine, Emergence, https://emergencemagazine.org/
was a brilliant piece by botanist Robin Wall Kimmerer on the gift economy as seen through an orchard of service berry.
And the second reminder was seasonal recipes from Gather Victoria. https://gathervictoria.com/2020/12/19/holiday-snake-cake/ I've admired Danielle Prudhome's recipes and used them over the years. Her kitchen witchery and solid research done with such obvious passion is a joy to behold. She sends teasers like the one above that anyone can use but offers more on her Pateon page that you can support in several ways. I value the recipes and so I am a supporter.
It's lovely to think that we could leave behind the construct of scarcity and instead live in abundance, as freely as we can harvest the medicine that lies at our feet the moment we step out our doors.
Happiest of Solstices and the rest of Yuletide to you and yours!
Warmly,
Randi