country girls my sweets

BACK TOGETHER AGAIN, and i'm never gonna lose you as a friend: 

amber, addie, milla, mycie, me, clover and missa.

i had the joy of meeting up with some of the dearest bloggy moonsisters in the world again this nice summery week. missa and milla were fresh from the herbal symposium and full of nature's magic; can't wait to hear more about their experience on their blogs.

i really wish i had taken photos the night before; we all met up at ade's house in nevada city for a slumber party.  sadie was here too! it was the best girly fest; the ladies had gotten together and made big hearty vegetarian burritos and we talked babies and boobs, blogs and books and all the good stuff for hours :)

next morning we headed over to Ike's, where ade's husband artie is a server, for the best veg-friendly homemade organic cajun style breakfast.

it was a perfect day for outdoor seating and it felt great to eat in dappled sunlight surrounded by pretty ladies :)

"MAGIC IN YOUR BELLY" (in more ways than one!)

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

pretty clothes abounded, of course. milla had just gotten these bloomers as a gift from missa and i am enchanted with the style idea.

summer girls, 

sweet love.

we rambled around town a bit....

....before heading over to suuzi and spencer's farm for a little visit and tour.

suuzi's midwives were there for a check up and a tour as well.

more powerful ladies to join us! suuzi is the queen of the farm and has no qualms even in her late, full blossomed pregnant state, plunging in to hold chicks, pick weeds, feed goats, and everything in between.

 a quick peek inside their rad trailer living space.

 suuzi tells the story of a surprise broody hen....

baby chicks of all shapes and sizes!

onward to the rooster yard, we found mister Wonder Woman to be especially agreeable and handsome.

spencer shows us different breeds, the yard is full of all sorts of crazy looking birds frolicking around in their feathery array.

mama goat recently birthed three littles at once, wow! good job mama. little tamson, the girl, is especially beloved by spencer and suuzi because she will become their next milking goat.

thank you, mama, for providing healthy raw goat milk for a glowing pregnant human!

pregnant mamas feeding goats!

the goats were so adorable and loved this yellow burdock so much.

 mycelia got a bee sting and was incredibly brave and quiet about it all. she simply chewed up some plantain and quickly made her own little poultice. what a lucky girl to grow up with such a smart herbal mama!

country girls at heart, we are.

as usual it was so endearing and magical to be around these wondrous girls. 

i was still recovering from my cold so headed home to rest that afternoon, but truly revived in spirit by the wisdom and sweetness of my friends. i'm so happy i got to see them all once more while growing a wee babe inside, and i'm so excited to introduce them to my own daughter next time we meet up!

33 weeks and feelin good

this was the day of my doctor appt last week...a couple days shy of 33 weeks pregnant.

wish i was still feeling so great! 

now i've come down with a nasty cold. 

after all my bragging about pregnancy boosting my immune system ; ) 

any tips from you other mamas or pregnant gals? did you get sick when you were pregnant? what kinds of natural remedies helped? at this point my main efforts are rest and hydration.

my baby is so big now! i love thinking of this belly not as a belly, but a baby. our baby!

she is probably close to 4 pounds or more, and gaining almost a pound a week at this point.

her heart sounded great and strong and i can still feel her moving a LOT. some people say it starts to slow down at this point but my little roly poly seems more and more interested in making herself known to the outside world.

at the doctor's office the ladies up front were soooo sweet to me, oohing and ahhhing over my dress and "tan" (?!) and long hair. i felt so special. and even though i've already gained as much weight as i pretty much wanted to gain, i feel good still and healthy (besides this dang cold!) and the doctor was very pleased with my progress.

i can't believe how fast the weeks are flying!

spent the last week housesitting for my boss, taking care of all her pretty little plants:

 

and of course, most importantly, these babes.

life is pretty different taking care of a dog 24/7! luckily abbie is the sweetest dog in the world, and darin was a huge help with her walks and running around playing with her.

joey and em were out of town on their honeymoon, so i was in between two houses all week, making sure that our own loved ones also got the care they need!

these kids thought they were running their very own cathouse, having the full run of the place for a whole week! look at the mischief in this rascal's eyes!

well there are about a million fun things coming up this week and beyond, so wish me luck with this cold!

hope you are all feeling vigorous and happy and full of sunshine.

dress: 60's vintage, thrifted

hat: thrifted

sandals: bass outlet years ago

earrings: gifted and handmade by amber

pretty baby

have you all seen the 1978 movie Pretty Baby? 

addie has been telling me about it for years and finally darin and i watched it.

i directly fell in love with the lush new orleans ambience, and you all know i fancy old brothels.

the hats, slips, corsets, bloomers, petticoats, stockings, eyelet lace and cleavage...i was dying.

the subject matter is somewhat difficult. brooke shields plays 12-year-old Violet, growing up in the brothel with her mother's (a glorious Susan Sarandon) nonchalant guidance. 

saucy young Violet is over sexualized and objectified, and the film doesn't seem overly concerned about that fact. i kind of appreciated that indifference, as if glimpsing some other world with a completely different set of values, without judgment. however the scenes are shown with such grace and beauty that you get the feeling the director Louis Malle was somehow getting off on the whole thing. i guess that's what i found a tad disturbing.

if you've seen it, did it bother you? they say it was meant to be shocking in the 1970s, but i don't really think so. it is too dreamy, moves too slowly through its thoughtful and provocative scenes. more like the filmmaker didn't find it so shocking at all, just a portrait of a (highly romanticized) bygone time. 

i was interested in the photographer who comes to stay at the brothel (even though his character totally creeped me out and disgusted me). E.J Bellocq was a real turn of the century New Orleans photographer and some of his images of the Storyville prostitutes survived.  

following are a few of his real portraits. storyville was bellocq's pet subject, the red light district of new orleans from 1897 to 1917. i love to think about these women, the real women, their lives, the moment of the photograph, the babies being born and their grief and struggles, their cats and ruffles and breasts and men, all different kinds of men, rough and kind alike.

prostitution is such a strange and complex piece of human history, a tormented crossroads between sex and commodity that leaves behind scars and stories.

i am interested in art that dares to take on such haunted histories.