Cowbell and a Random List of Things

   Good Thursday morning, fine people! The Lazy W is awake and frosty and already bouncing with activity. Lots is happening these days, and I crave in my bones to write in detail about each and every item. But time keeps on slippin, slippin, slippin... into the fuuuuutuuuuure... So as a result we have me writing once a week. How about a list today? Grab your morning's last cup of coffee and please join me.

Oklahoma has been experiencing earthquakes more frequently, and the farm is not far from a commonly identified epicenter. They are getting stronger, too. It doesn''t bother me that much unless Handsome is out of town, but it is one more thing to consider. Side note: as with thunderstorms and other wild weather events, our yard birds seem to know when earthquakes are soon coming. They roll in the sand, cluck excitedly, and fly about alerting us to imminent danger.

This past Sunday evening, Handsome and I welcomed our friends Luis and Kevin and three of their friends to the farm for dinner and a moonlit bonfire. Two of their friends were visiting from New Zealand, and we had the nicest time laughing, eating, and singing around the fire pit. One of the guys brought his acoustic guitar and treated us to so much good music. The out of country guests were as accommodating as you can imagine answering my gazillion questions about Kiwi culture and such. Now I want even more to visit their beautiful island nation down under. In the mean time I am faking a gorgeous (but really awkward because it's me...) Kiwi accent. To my ears it's even prettier than French.

My garden is marching forward like a stalwart soldier of chlorophyll. Growing and blooming, reaching toward the fickle sky with her tiny broccoli heads, ruffled spinach rows, and curling sweet pea vines. Even the squash and eggplants are thriving. Ignoring the frost. Daring winter to lash out again and again  The pastures are drinking up this abundant rain and cool temperatures, blushing deeper and deeper green every week. The pond is so high right now that I still cannot run my normal lap around the back field. It's a good problem to have, you guys. The fruit trees are straight and tall and heavy with variegated blooms. The hens are producing eggs like someone gave them magic egg-producing pills. Life is thrumming right along. I definitely celebrate the days when I get to stay home and enjoy so much activity and progress. Like today!

Here are a few veggie and herb babies that have yet to be planted outdoors. 
They have benefit of indoor shelter and TLC, but ironically 
their outdoor counterparts look much, much better.

Our mama llama has yet to drop that baby, but we feel like it could be any time. Care to place a wager? Several of this blog's Facebook friends have already done so, and your guess is just as welcome. Winner gets choice of either a personalized tea towel or a batch of fresh homemade cookies.

I run my first half marathon this coming Sunday morning. The event benefits the memorial of the Oklahoma City Murrah Building Bombing of April 1995. I am running to honor my husband's parents and our good friend Alan, all of whom worked tirelessly the day of and for for weeks after the bombing, both as rescue and in the morgue. They certainly deserve to be honored.

My hands are so cold as I type all of this. But I refuse to use the house heater. Not at the end of April. No matter how cold it gets. I'm not complaining, just trying to be as stalwart as my garden is. Which is very. If you need a pep talk on why this craziness is actually good news for Oklahoma, please read this article by a local meteorologist. Good stuff.

Our fair city's annual Festival of the Arts is this week, and I can't wait to have time to go! It's always fun. Great food, gobs and gobs of visual inspiration, breathtaking flowers... Oklahoma City has really come to life in recent years, and we are all very proud of the progress and liveliness. If you're local and want to go with me, drop me a note! Here is a link to the schedule.

This breathtaking tree is actually in the Tulsa Zoo, where Handsome took me yesterday,

but it is a great example of how beautiful Oklahoma looks it the springtime. 

Can't wait to see the Myriad gardens this week!

Speaking of OKC, our beloved Thunder basketball team 

is already making waves in the playoff season. Go Thunder!

Tonight is World Book Night. Global activities abound, all of which I failed to plan on joining. But we can make our own fun, right? At the moment I am polishing off our book club's current selection, Don Quixote. It is hysterical. And later today to celebrate World Book Night I want to make a lampshade out of old book pages. And return my library books. Which are only three days late. That's kind of a record for me.

The characters Sancho Panza and Don Quixote are great examples of how 
assigning mental images and voices to your characters 
will aid in the smooth reading of a translated text.
Laugh-out-Loud funny.

   Okay, honestly you guys, this list of random things that make me excited today could easily be three times as long, but the farm awaits. And my coffee cup is empty and cold. So I wish you all a super happy day! Allow yourself to be overwhelmed by beauty and opportunity rather than burdens. This month, this week, today... with all of her unique challenges and benefits... will only pass by you once. Grab it all!!

"I got a fevah!
 and the prescription is 
 MORE COWBELL!"
~Christopher Walken
xoxoxoxo