family – Page 6 – This Old House 2

Let there be Light

The Mr. wasn’t particularly fond of the pendant lights we had over the kitchen island, so we started looking at other options. There are SO MANY!!.. just browse Pottery Barn (my favorite for lighting) or Bellacor or Seagull lighting websites and you’ll be amazed and confused. After a significant search and a little bickering, we did settle on globes we found on Lamps Plus….

Out with the old..

In with the new…

I like them! I have found the glass globes are a bit of a pain in the ass because Smudges*smears*streaks*dust, but I do like the overall look.

The blank spot on the wall over the sink used to display three of my small paintings. I found a fairly local craft person on Etsy who makes rustic old wooden signs for a very reasonable price. She’s doing a farm sign for me and it will go right there where the paintings used to live. I’m a big fan of changing things up around the house now and then, and it doesn’t have to be much at all. A change of throw pillows on the couch to reflect the season, moving a painting to a different room, adding a plant or two, etc. And the best decorating tip of all – get rid of clutter noise. I tend to be a knicknack collector, and sometimes it becomes too knicknacky so I pick through and simplify. Cleaning up a disastrous closet or counter, folding that mountain of laundry that’s been building in the (fill in the blank) can give you a feeling of renewal. All those shoes that accumulate in the bottom of the coat closet.. some that haven’t been worn in three years? Out.

My guy is very type A – he is not fond of clutter and on the island we go back and forth with his love for -nothing at all – on it, and my love of decorating to create *cozy*. Sometimes I do a big decluttering around the house and he is in love all over again…. only to come home a few days later with the now familiar words… “Uh-oh.. I see clutter forming again”… tumbling out of his mouth. I’m just redecorating, that’s all.

The big glass hurricane candle holder thing we had on the island didn’t look right with the new pendants, so I went up the road to a local shop that sells wonderful things, so many wonderful things you can get in trouble quickly if you have to answer to a husband who balances the household budget in the aftermath.

This was yesterday’s score…Simple.. and I can leave it there all winter, change out the greens, etc. for other seasons.

Have I told you lately about our new granddog, Gizmo? We are all in love with him, hard to imagine someone dumped him on the side of the road, where he was found matted and afraid and wondering what the hell happened. He’s house trained and so loving, just wants to be up in your lap kissing you. He’s good to his brother by another mother, although he tries to herd Rex when they’re outside. I think he’s got border collie in him, Shih tzu border collie, that’s my guess.

Are you hosting any of the holiday meals on the horizon? We will have both Thanksgiving and Christmas meals here with the extended family and I’ve begun planning the menus – below are some awesome cheeseboard ideas, I plan to use these photos to create something similar here at This Old House.

I hope all is well in your world – Till soon, friends.. OOh.. and if you don’t already follow Susan Branch’s blog.. she just published a lovely Thanksgiving post.. worth the click over to HERE… where you’ll find lots of lovely things, including her uplifting spirit.. and this recipe below, which is also her artwork.

Morning Commute

After 31 years of the same old grind, I still love my morning commute. Although this is our fourth small farm in those 31 years, this one in particular, of which we hope and plan to retire on, is the most extensively “farmed” – we hay our fields, raise chickens for eggs, my horses adorn the fields as lawn ornaments for the most part but they do get use, sparingly. (those spoiled, spoiled horses).

We used to have a huge vegetable garden, but with enough produce yield to feed a lost continent full of folk and a weed war we could not possibly win, we downsized eventually to a two-raised bed configuration 1/8th the size of the original, now located in our back yard. We also have a small young apple orchard with peach and plum trees, blueberry and raspberry bushes, and a Christmas Tree lot in a back field. (haha..hahahaha… I’ll ‘splain later in the post).

So.. my morning starts with breakfast for the two of us around 5:30 a.m. for no good reason at all other than that’s when the Mr. and I religiously wake up. And we aren’t religious. We’re just *UP*. The dogs are let out to do their business and then fed. If it’s chilly, like this morning, I put on my outer layer of barn attire and Miss Sally waits by the door because she knows the routine and she loves OUT. And OUT with MOM is the stuff dreams are made of.

We head out into the frost coated everything to begin the rounds. Sally stays within the dog fenced area, but it allows her to follow me up the driveway to the barn area where she waits around while I feed and muck.

Side note: (I’m a little ADD, I’m pretty sure of it ) Peering over to the left in the backyard, my daughter’s home is in sight. We are absolutely loving our new neighbors 💖. Her new family member, adopted adorable Gizmo has blended very well with their dog Rex, and all is well in their new little kingdom in the field across the way.

Back on track we go – morning commute… The chicken coop comes first – I let the girls out into their coop yard and refresh the water and feeders, rake the chicken yard, and once a week the whole coop gets an overhaul of fresh shavings, swept out cobwebs, new hay in laying boxes, etc. This year’s babies have already been laying for months and they’re beautiful! The two shown here are Light Brahmas. They have feathers on their feet! They are part of my GOT flock. Winter and Ghost , with Arya on the right. Cersei died early on of a deformed beak ( if only that had happened in the series! ) Sansa and Daenerys are doing well.

Once the girls are all set for the day, I head up to the barn to feed and water the horses and turn them out for the day.

The two old boys.. Max1 and Max2.. are let out into the fields after they’ve finished their morning grain. They’ve just started wearing their fall sheets to keep the chill off on these 30 something degree mornings. Older horses have trouble keeping good weight on due to teeth that are ground down with time, so we give them a little help with special grains for seniors and blankets for added warmth.

The mini horses are little cherubs, chubby little cherubs. Their weight needs to be kept reasonable and so they are not allowed on the big grassy fields with the larger horses as they’d eat themselves to oblivion. So we keep them in a smaller dirt paddock and give them the appropriate amount of grain and hay for their size.

Once feed is done, I usually muck stalls. On Sundays our boarder does stalls to give me a reprieve, so this morning I walked about the fields and took a few pictures instead.

Our little orchard on the hill behind the house. The apple trees on the left are a few years old and have produced very little so far. It takes a few years for trees to establish themselves, and we’re still learning about proper pruning and fertilization – must be enough, but not too much. The blueberry and raspberry bushes will get a netting cover once berries appear, lest the birds and squirrels get them all. Yep, That did happen, lesson learned.

In the field behind the horse barn is a tree lot … where for three years, we’ve planted 100 Christmas trees. The first year we had a wicked winter and the wind chill was awful, killing most of the trees. *ah, crap. We replaced them with slightly bigger ones the second year… of which we lost more than half to a grub infestation. *crap again. And why does it seem so many have just planted a ton of trees and lo and behold, a tree farm was born – like, super easy. I mean it was such the infestation that when you walked among the saplings the ground crinkled and crunched for all the grubs squirming around just below the surface. BLEH.

We’ve planted the new little baby Christmas trees in this third year of tree farming, with a fence around lest the deer eat them up, ( can you imagine?) the ground is treated for grubs and we’ll cross our fingers for a not-so-terribly-cold windy winter, shall we?

With the walk about done and checking for downed fence rails, I walk back down to the house where Miss Sally has joined me along the fence line and up onto the porch where she waits to be let in while I shuck off my muck boots. We then get on with our day.

It’s a dirty business sometimes, this job of mine, and never is it glamorous – but I wouldn’t trade it for the world and then some.

Another Side note: Have you been a Downton Abbey fan? I hadn’t paid any attention to it for all these years, how did I miss such a gem? – just got hooked on Amazon and within three weeks I’m almost done with the six seasons, looking forward to the movie! I love it! Fantastic actors too – What a different world. Living not far from Newport, I’ve toured some of the old “cottages” and saw first hand their elaborate lives preserved for all to explore. These are not the estates of Europe, of course, but the summer colonies for some of the wealthy elite Americans of the late 1800’s early 1900’s.

Till soon, friends –

Welcome Gizmo!

For years I’ve been a volunteer at shelter dog adoption events here in Connecticut, and was a founding member of Homeward Bound CT. Due to my hearing loss I stepped down from the Board eventually, as it became increasingly difficult to hear conversation at meetings, etc. I no longer work the events as a conduit between the adopters and the dogs on three day stretches for the same reason. I didn’t want this damned hearing loss to squelch my shelter dog assistance efforts, however, so I contribute in other ways that don’t require conversations in the crowded busy barky affair that is an adoption event. I bring food for the many volunteers, photograph and advocate for the dogs coming to the event, and donate money to the rescues to help them accomplish their monumental tasks.

Two of my three current dogs are rescues, and my daughter also has an adopted pooch, Rex. Well.. she did, but now she has two. K and D adopted Gizmo this weekend at Homeward Bound CT’s latest event, and I can honestly tell you I have not ever seen a more grateful dog. Gizmo just absolutely loves everyone. As soon as he locks eyes with you, if you don’t melt, you don’t have a heart in your chest cavity, I’m telling ya. He was picked up by an ACO as a stray in Georgia, where he landed at a kill shelter – and was quickly pulled by a rescue friend of ours, who vetted him, fostered him, and brought him up here to Connecticut with her other saves. A more loving, cuddly dog does not exist. We don’t know what his circumstances were that landed him in a kill shelter, but he’s out of those woods now.

Welcome to our family, Gizmo!

We took her boyz for a walk around the property yesterday to help Gizmo learn what home is to him now.

This picture shows the relationship between our two homes – It’s so awesome to have our girl and her little family right nextdoor. This old farm has truly become our family’s haven and I can’t begin to express appropriately how grateful I am.

I remember vividly passing this place on our way to visit my aunt many years ago. As a young girl I would glance at the overgrown fields behind the viney overgrown roadside and the ancient peeling sinking house…. and dream a little dream of living in the country on a place such as this. Never would I have guessed I’d call it home someday. It all started with a desire to live in the country with horses and dogs, and a big leap of faith to make a bold move when I was 19. The support of family and the love of a good man was the glue that kept the dream together.

Both in Vermont and here in CT, the fall foliage has been oustanding. What is fall looking like in your neck’o the woods?

Till soon, friends…

A Palate cleanser

After the last post I feel I need to sprinkle some happy up here in this space. Let us not allow the *crazy* to infect every corner of our world, because truly there’s so much to appreciate and good works we can do and fun and adventure to be had, regardless. I find a lot of solace in the every day, in the routines, the natural beauty outside these old doors, my animals up on the hill, the family that gathers round the table and the dogs curled up under my desk.

Here on the farm the leaves are turning and beginning to blanket the stone walls and pathways. My gardens are depleted, but there is still much color and many blooms and berries…

Zinnia still reaching for the sky…

The Dahlias – easy to grow and just so stunning…. I do need to pull the bulbs out of the ground once the frost hits if I want to use them again next year. And I might not, because sometimes I’m lazy that way.

My New Dawn roses have made a second appearance, just a few on a very lengthy vine along the dog yard fence.

I forget the name of these hydrangea trees, their blooms are prolific this year! My mom has been here several times collecting bunches for friends, they are great for drying.

Beautyberry – a more vivid purple berry you have never seen.

More Dahlia….

And although the daisies were done over a month ago, because of the warm weather, a few have shot up again.

Inside the house I’ve brought in fall – one of my favorite seasons to decorate. Pumpkins everywhere! and.. I bring bittersweet vine in from the fields and drape them along the fireplace mantels. There are pumpkins on the front door steps and over the door itself on the “shelf”, too.

I’ve been holding on to a painting by my late great grandfather in 1949 for some time now. His writing is on the back, so it was easy to discover what this painting was of – The covered bridge in Arlington, Vermont just in front of Normal Rockwell’s beloved home on the green. Above as it appears in our dining room, Below is a picture of the area now, and his painting up close. I recently had it matted, framed and glass covered for protection as it was in rough shape – it’s hard to get a photo of it without glare. The white house in the very background was his home.

Current….

And as my great grandfather saw it in 1949…

I hope to get up there in the near future to stand at this spot myself, with a nod to my deceased ancestor who did the very same. He and I have a similar painting style – not too detailed but the end result is pleasing to the eye, if not very professional or precise. Right now I’m reading Normal Rockwell’s autobiography and I look forward to the inevitable mention of his beloved home in Arlington.

11/28/1939-ORIGINAL CAPTION READS: Norman Rockwell, artist. Photo shows Rockwell painting with smoking pipe in his mouth.

Hopefully Getty Images folks own’t mind that I used their image.

I’ll leave you with a link to some scrumptious fall recipes from a favorite blogger of mine, Jane of Blondie’s Journal. Visit her post HERE. I’ve got the beef stew on my stove as I type this, and the other recipes will get a chance here at this old house as well. The stew is delish! Perfect for a cool fall evening.

Till soon, friends –

The Lights are on and Everyone’s HOME

When we bought this run down old farm, our goal was to restore it and create a family gathering place for many years to come. With our kids now grown and making their way in the world, tonight I see the bonfire up on the hill with the boy and his cousin and long time friends gathered round the fire once again as they have since their high school days, all college graduates and professionals living near and far. Next door, I see the lights on for the first time, my daughter and her boyfriend’s first night in their new home. I have a husband with vision and tenacity who saw this all through, and I’m grateful for every second of it. ♥

A little tour of the new home…

Wishing my daughter and her partner in life many happy years here!

While the new home owners were unpacking, the Mr. and I went down to Stella by the Sea to sit on her now vacant deck once again and enjoy the early fall breezes. (more like… he enjoyed the breezes and took a nap while I did laundry, picked tomatoes, dusted, vacuumed and packed away bedding for the coming winter months.)

I did manage to stick my feet in the water and absorb a little more Vitamin Sea.

The last of the seaside garden tomatoes… those four plants yielding more fruit than my 10 or so here on the farm – go figure.

I’m too exhausted by all the noise coming out of Washington to dive into it much here… – Bonfire of the Vanities – sums it up, new meaning of course.

Apple Slab Pie with Maple Icing – link HERE.

Till soon –

Goodbyes and hellos

We laid to rest our dear Dane, Ben. At 10.5 years of age, (ancient for a Dane) his hind end gave out. We are lucky to have a very good vet who came to the farm so that there would be no added stress to poor Ben, and he had a peaceful passing. We miss the big guy, he was a horse in the house and there’s a big hole in our hearts and hearth where he once took up space. I don’t know that we’ll bring home another giant dog, they don’t live long enough and their decline is so heartbreaking to watch, although that’s true of any living thing.

New England has experienced many perfect weather days in recent weeks. Fall is unfurling slowly into the morning and evening light, the leaves beginning to change color. Some Autumns are a dud as far as foliage color depending on weather conditions, and some are just glorious. We’ve had many Monarch butterflies in the hay fields and in our Zinnia patch!

We will soon tuck our Stella by the Sea away, as her 2019 season has come to an end. Closing up a summer cottage is a reluctant good bye, thankfully just a temporary one.

In this glorious month of September, my sister’s youngest son was married on their farm. The bride and groom were so clearly happy and in love, and the wedding was a fun event – with fall decor and comfort foods and a great DJ who got the crowd dancing, rocking the house all night. The wedding cake wasn’t a cake at all – it was DONUTS!… a nod, no doubt, to the groom’s profession – a police officer. Wishing Brian and Kate many many happy years.

My kids, my niece and my other kids……

Mom and sister, Sue

I think my most favorite picture of my mom, ever… in my sister’s Sunflower patch on that day…

On the better health front, I’ve lost 10 lbs of my 25 lb weight loss goal so far, and the rest ain’t gonna come off easy. Menopause sucks in some ways, this is one of them. A nutritionist has helped me sort out why I overeat and how I can make changes that are doable for the rest of my life, to keep the weight off. I’m still tweeking, because Lord I Love To Eat. And Cook, And Bake. But… slow and steady wins the race. This below is a good mantra to keep in your arsenal for making positive change in your life.

In closing, I’ll give you a sneak peak of our daughter’s new home, right next door to this old house on the farm. By September 30th, they’ll be in!

Till soon, friends…

Cape Wonder

I am in love with the house nextdoor! ❤ It just so happens to be the home my husband is building for our daughter and her guy.

When we first bought This Old House and the land around it, we knew there was potential for a few building lots, if the kids decided when they were grown that they’d like to settle in this area. We are very fortunate to be in the business of building houses, so we can help them do this. We’re also lucky they don’t mind living near mom and dad. We’ve made the promise that we’ll respect privacy so no one feels like the ‘rents are breathing down their neck. A stand of trees planted in the field between us helps too.

We found a home plan on the internet that’s style is in keeping with the other 200 year old homes in this area, including Grace (our restored home). The size is perfect, too – we did some tweaking to the plan and the finished home will have a nice big kitchen and open family room layout with master bedroom and bath on first floor, an office room which they both need for their jobs, a second half bath mud/laundry room and attached rear garage. Upstairs, which for now will remain unfinished to keep mortgage and taxes down, has the potential and is rough framed for two bedrooms and two baths, should children come along or they want the additional space down the road. There is also potential for a bonus room over the garage, rough framed for now. It’s a fantastic layout for a retired/empty nester person or couple as well.

Some light fixtures we’ve ordered ….

Their condo is sold and the closing is in a week, so they’ll be moving into Stella by the Sea for the remaining four weeks it will take to complete their home.

Do I even comment on the hundreds of atrocities in the news? How about I just post this…

Fresh Salt

My gardens this year have been a bit of a mystery.

For one thing, the combination of some really intense rainstorms and some really humid days throughout the summer have produced an abundance of flowers and growth on all the perennials. I’ve also noticed the wild flowers/blooming weeds all along the roadsides seem to have multiplied tremendously, Queen Ann’s Lace and what I call black eyed susans in particular.

As for the vegetable gardens… well, despite my fortification attempts in the two large raised beds here on the farm…. all my tender care and raising from seedlings the tomato, eggplant, yellow squash, onion and yellow beans….they were a miserable lot. Having produced only a pathetic yield, I cannot tell you why. The only plants that were marginally happy in my farm garden this year were parsley and basil, zinnia and new-to-me Dahlia.

The SEASIDE cottage garden, however…. Stella’s little 1′ x 5 ‘ raised garden bed crammed up against the side of the house? The one we did almost NOTHING to coax? … has triple the yield, go figure. I’m thinking it must be the fresh salt air, the moisture off the water, and the fact that for hundreds of years, before the “island” became a 140 summer cottage retreat, it was a New England seaside cow farm. Lots and lots of old fertilizer makes really rich soil.

Despite that wicked heat and thunder storms, we’ve had some beautiful weather this summer. The family has been enjoying our little Stella by the Sea in between work and volunteer and farm obligations, and that brings me great joy.

As does a really good pound cake -Like this one found on the internet I’ll share below. I hope you’re having a good summer! I’m trying to look away from the ugly and look for more of the good. It is out there, we need to underline it, highlight it… celebrate what is beautiful, choose kindness and spread that shit like fairy dust wherever we can.

Old School Butter Pound Cake

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c cake flour

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

3 stick butter, unsalted (softened at room temp)

8 oz cream cheese, room temperature

3 1/4 c sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

1 tsp salt

6 large eggs

Directions

1. Beat butter and cream cheese with a mixer on medium speed until mixture comes together.

2. Add sugar and extracts; beat until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, alternating with flours 1/2 cup at a time until all eggs and flours are used.

4. Transfer to a buttered, oiled and floured, 10-cup shaped pan such as bundt pan.

5. Place in cold oven. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Bake until an inserted tester comes out clean about 1 1/2 hours.

6. Remove cake from pan. Let cool on wire rack.

Ambrosia

I may do a lot of communicating my views on social media, but I don’t often get too personal regarding whatever my life struggles. Believe it or not, I usually view that as a weakness and I’m not a cryer. This morning I woke with a song in my head and then tears in my eyes, and neither is a normal occurrence. With my hearing loss I lost music as well as language identification. The the biggest tragedy for me with this handicap? – no music. But the song is an oldie and because of my love for music and my participation in bands in my younger years I remember every inflection, every cymbal, every trill, every beat, every note of most of the songs we all loved in our youth. So this song this morning – Ambrosia – You’re the Only Woman. I wondered why it’s making me tear up now, what heart string is it strumming so deeply that it’s bringing me to tears … and then I realize what this release is and how those words apply …and now I can’t stop the flood.

I am so horrified and heartbroken at all this hate I’m seeing on the news, on social media, even from some of the people I know well – our country is in real turmoil and it’s coming from all angles and all walks of life. I might some day go for that operation that could restore some hearing and perhaps some music in my life… ..and I hope and pray every single day this world finds it’s way back together in some form of peace we can all live with. As with that operation , the fix might be painful and there are some risks, results not guaranteed, might have to step out of our comfort zone, but isn’t it worth it? Aren’t we worth it? How comfortable is what we have right now for any of us??

This is a beautiful world we live in and I see it more acutely now that I can no longer hear it. I want to take every one of you in my arms and heal these wounds for all. I’ll pray that we all wake up and smell the coffee, see the value in loving and respecting each other and truly hear the music, inside ourselves and outside in the world … despite our differences. We are so lucky to live here, we should all love this place with all it’s flaws, and fix them. I just want us all to realize that, and to find the path that leads us to loving and respecting each other for whatever time we each have here on this earth..

When the pain of love surrounds you
And the world may be unkind
I’ll put my lovin’ arms around you
Take you far from this place and time

Because you and I been in love too long
To worry ’bout tomorrow
Here’s a place where we both belong….……………………..

Heavy and Light

New England just experienced an awful heatwave, just like much of the country. We spent part of it at a week-long horse show. When the temps hit 100 we opted to give ourselves and more importantly our horse a much needed reprieve from the heat.

I must confess I am conflicted about our involvement in horse showing. In any sport that involves animals, there is some cruelty in the mix. If you’re an animal lover as I and my daughter are, there is no denying it. My experience is in the quarter horse industry, but the abuses are present in all disciplines. I cringe when I see folks celebrating a Kentucky Derby race – if you’re truly aware of what is involved in the horse racing industry, I don’t know how the conscience allows the support of it. What I can say, and what let’s me support my daughter’s involvement in showing, is we are surrounded by people who genuinely give a damn about their horse. Our show barn family are a decent, caring lot, for the horses in their care, and toward each other.

I’m pretty certain if there is a God, when the time comes, he or she will swing the gates wide open for horse show moms, no questions asked. …..Practice, patience, practice, patience, dirt, heat, cold, rain, laughs, tears, cheers, Dirt, more dirt, and a few curse words sprinkled in….

Speaking of K – the home we are building next door is coming along beautifully. Because this is what we do for a living, it’s truly a family affair – my husband and son are building it, a labor of love for our daughter and her guy. That makes it extra special for K, who has been saving her money responsibly since she was a waitress at a retirement community in HS, and the past ten years as a secretary at a Bank. She is now seeing the rewards of hard work and thrilled to see it unfold. And so are we – truly feeling so blessed to be able to help her achieve this monumental goal of her own home with her partner in life.

We’ve been enjoying a little relaxation time at the cottage, where the gardens including the tomatoes are insanely happy, despite our doing not one thing to encourage it. Go figure. I’m thinking it must be the sea air…

It’s not often I get him to sit and relax for 15 minutes. I think on this day it may have been 20.

Here on the farm, my vegetable garden is anemic despite my efforts in the fertilization and watering department. I have no idea why. We’re getting small amounts of produce, but nothing like past years yield. The flowers, however, are prolific.

Regarding our country and it’s current “climate” – Whether we like it or not, the mobs chanting : send her back, send her back, send her back, are our fellow Americans. The current P0TUS is nothing more than a ringleader of hate. I never thought I’d see anything like this in America.

And if you’re still condoning this level of hatred, I have no use for what’s in your heart. I am so done with any defense of that assh0le. It’s an American Tragedy on several levels, some of it has nothing to do with politics. Hate and division destroys nations. Wake. the Fuck. Up.

– heartbroken