A crisp fall-like day drew Joe and I outside.
“Why do I have to wear my boots?” He asked after I told him to change shoes.
“In case it’s muddy,” I responded.
“But it’s not Mud Monday, Mom.”
I just smiled and shook my head.
We stopped by the chicken coop to check for eggs. There weren’t any, but one of the girls was nestled in a laying box. She was quite put out when we opened the box and gave a rather irritated squawk along with a beady-eyed glare.
And so, after soothing her and apologizing for the interruption, we headed out to the swale.
The sun made the day warmer than it was and shone down prettily on the brown and crunchy pasture. Joe walked around the maze while I snapped a few pictures of the slush in the swales.
The southern swale had a slushy mix of dirt, water and ice that Joe so badly wanted to jump in.
The northern swale was mostly packed white snow with a few rivulets of icy water.
I was a little surprised to see the ground cherries scattered all over the place. I don’t remember planting them in the swale so the birds must have gotten a hold of them and distributed the seed for me.
Boots and Echo ran around with us, hiding from each other, pouncing and rolling through the tall weeds.
The day was gorgeous
The wind was slight
The gloomy cold was banished
We both just smiled
We ran around
Before the sunlight vanished
a pinch of homestead 
sounds pretty amazing 🙂 I wish we were already in land that was ours. We are renting and cannot buy for now. I am trying to plan some ways to practice permaculture in this backyard. If I cannot it with me then at least the next renter might benefit from it.
Thank you! It amazes me every time I walk out there and the swales are full of water, knowing that what we did is working. We are so fortunate to have found the land we have!
In many of ways, it’s easier to design a smaller space and the knowledge you gain and lessons learned can be applied to your next spot. And that next renter, like you said, will definitely benefit from what you do. 🙂