smiling flowers pokey bugs october

The gladiolas are bringing in the hummingbirds, the mud house is climbing upwards, and the smiles are glowing as we round out this month of internship adventures.
The walls are mudding up lovely, with bottles and window holes and dreams of sweet inhabiting.

The bathroom marked for the bathtub and dry composting toilet.
So many smiles...
...and concentration in keeping with the line... if that's your style.
'Tis that season again, and the caterpillars are poking all around us...
Calendula flower balms on their way. Here infusing in sunflower oil...
Anybody know the name of this flower?? It has appeared in our gardens for two years now, and we are just curious if it has medicinal or edible properties...
In the garden-- green beans on their way...
...and fava beans on the plate...

And as always, the baked delights just keep rolling out... this time, bagel explosions!
The local school kids did their Ecology Fair presentation on Mama Roja happenings and their in-school implementation of environmental care... and won! Now they go to the state fair and keep spreading the good work!
Of course, the interns did their share to help the kids out on their project... earthen mini-models of the on-goings at Mama Roja. Fabulous!Bonus Photo: The birth of the winged...

Mud People, Pigs, and Flowers

Mud building is in full swing, and we just can't keep everyone clean! The house on the hill is looking great as we stack up the adobe bricks.
There doesn't seem to be a problem instigating laughter with this group!
Meanwhile, Mother Nature is doing her great work of supplying us with flower delights everywhere. Here, the garden chicory is starting to set up for seed now that the heat is creeping in.
The gift of flowers and loving helping hands.
And more baby plantlings on their way!
Also going in: bean trellises, sheet mulch gardens, keystone sesame beds, and the fields of mandioca and peanuts, amaranth, quinoa, and chia. Just trying to keep the birds from over-sharing their fair share!
Holy hogs! We got a pig! Her hobbies seem to include eating, spilling her water container 14 times a day, eating, oinking at the rooster, eating, rearranging the mud in her pin, eating, and oh, eating.
Also, we have hesperadina (an old family liqueur recipe) and mulberry wine on their fermenting ways!
The castle composting toilet is also getting re-loved up. Soon, we will all be on the throne of life connecting with the royal cycle!
Now that is stacking to a tee! The music must not stop just because one must wash clothes!
Bonus Photo: The Lirio, or Ground Orchid, in process of opening -- the same flower as the first photo above, but this shot was taken about 10 minutes earlier