Garden – This Old House 2

A glorious October

Despite predictions that New England would have a drab fall foliage season due to the drought we experienced over the summer months, there’s been plenty of beautiful color. My walks and hikes with Kai have been fragrant with crunching leaves underfoot, the strong scent of pine needles along some of my favorite paths, the swirling breezy wiffs of autumn that always bring me back to childhood and fond memories – leaf pile making and jumping in. “Dog shows” on the front lawn with neighborhood kids and their pets. Making little trails in the leaves with rakes for my breyer model horses – For in the ‘burbs’ there was no room for real horses.

In our yard there are three shrub varieties that are beautiful this time of year… If you’re looking to add color to yours, these are a great addition.

Flaming azalea…

CrapeMyrtle –

And Snowball Viburnum – in spring months the flowers of this shrub are wonderfully fragrant.

Out on the trails and around the farm, the golden hues have been intoxicating…

Sometimes kai and I traverse a town instead of beach or woods walks. The Town of Essex does a spooktacular job during Halloween season, one of our favorite strolls.

The grands continue to bring me so much joy, and the holidays come alive again in a whole new way when we get to share it with them, and see their excitement and wonder and thrill –

Another joy of mine is getting to witness my kids become loving and engaged parents. Daughter K has her second child due in January – grand No. 4!

Two simple recipes Susan Branch has shared weaved into her art –

We had a celebrity visit here on the farm a few days ago…. If you know, you know. Well the picture helps if you don’t know 🙂

The Mister and I have visited a few farm markets, this month was the last hurrah for the farm market season and we took advantage… We are sixty-ish now and it shows, but those smiles and lines and gray hairs represent a lot of living that I am grateful for. Amen… and Amen again.

Up at the barn, it’s blanket season! Max is now about 30 years old, we don’t want the old boy to have to work his body too hard to stay warm… and Leah, bred for show… doesn’t grow a strong winter coat so we give her a boost as well.

I am tempted to dive into the tangle of current events, so much of it alarming… but I think I’ll leave this post as a reminder that there are many many things to be thankful for, and our peace is worthy of protection. Keep doing all the things you do to make the world a better place, even the smallest acts of kindness send a ripple out into the world. Hug those you love, love on them well and tell them often. Take care of yourself, too.

Cheers to hope for the future, from our moms, who are still with us, (so thankful for that)…. to you. To all of us! 🥂

Till soon –

And Just Like That…..

… it’s August.

We welcomed our third grandchild last Friday! Much to his parent’s surprise, he has a shock of beautiful red hair. We are all over the moon, full of joy for this little guy, who joins his sister M and cousin J, all of whom are being raised on this family farm.

My daughter and her son… my son and his daughter in our vegetable garden on the hill behind our house.. This picture captures the dream my husband and I have been building for 37 years and not a day goes by that I am not grateful for this blessing.

Speaking of blessings… the fruits of our labor were on the dinner table last night…

Not pictured is my most favorite summer food… a simple garden tomato sandwich with mayo, salt & pepper. Sometimes some greens.

More garden shots…. I think planting things in your surroundings and nurturing them is one of the best gifts you can give yourself.

If you’ve been visiting this blog for years, you’ll remember our cottage at the shoreline.. Stella. That was a wonderful renovation project and we enjoyed Stella for six years. What we discovered along that journey is having two places to manage/maintain when our main homestead takes up so much of our time and energy isn’t ideal. I found that most of my time spent at the cottage was doing the upkeep chores instead of the rest and relaxation it was intended for. So ultimately we decided to sell it. Mom had been renting a summer cottage down on the island for five years previously, and this year the opportunity to rent that previous cottage came available…. and so we headed down to the island again, moved mom in for a little over a week… and enjoyed what initially drew us to the area – rest, relaxation, sea air, shore birds, and a few refreshing gin & tonics.

Who knew cormorants had such beautiful greenBlue eyes! They are the color of jadeite –

Have you ever seen an American Oyster Catcher? They, too, have beautiful eyes. All of these shots I was able to get while out in the kayak in the cove.

Back on the farm… smoke from the Canadian wildfires has made our sunrises and sunsets eerily red lately. Sometimes we can smell the smoke of it….

One of my favorite quotes – “We’re all just walking each other home”….. I keep reminding myself to keep this mentality when I allow myself to peek at the news headlines or glance at the TV screen as the noise blares. And there is SO… MUCH… NOISE. I’ve not ever enjoyed politics, largely just keeping it out of my life other than to exercise my right to vote and cast my pebble into the ocean of what feels like the right trajectory for us and our fellow countrymen. I knew there were many things our governing bodies were not getting right, many things that needed change and action that wasn’t coming – and that blame lies across the entire political spectrum.

That being said… I would not ever have believed an administration and a leader who is so thoroughly corrupt right in front of our very eyes in every facet of the human existence could muster the kind of cultlike support he has managed to create. It’s mindblowing. Ignoring it feels like a cop out, so I can’t.

If your entire political identity is built on hating “the other” – immigrants, queer kids, people of color, women who speak up – then maybe it’s time to ask who really broke this country. Because it certainly wasn’t progressive ideas… and let’s be honest about what that actually means, those progressives… the idea of progress. Specifically, it refers to social progress, the process of a society lifting itself out of ignorance, injustice, and inequality, toward a future that promises enlightenment, prosperity, equality, and environmental sustainability. Why does that notion offend anyone at all? The answer to that isn’t comfortable.

No… what broke this country was the normalization of cruelty, the elevation of fear over fact, and the celebration of power over principle. We didn’t drain the swamp, we added pollution to it.

Loving your country doesn’t require hating its people. If your politics demand cruelty and hate, you’re not patriotic. That’s parasitic.

And I don’t regret losing a few “friends” because I choose to speak up about what we are all seeing and being honest about it. Because I know… where I come from is a place of fairness, justice, truth, equality, safety…the desire for economic and environmental soundness…. FOR ALL.

If you’re still with me, this blurb below is true too…. ” we are all saving each other every single day in tiny, seemingly insignificant ways”…… that. Keep doing it wherever you are. Let’s grow where we are planted, and water others along the way. That is where our power lies, in the every day interactions.

till soon –

What’s blooming around here……

We’ve had a lot of precipitation this past month… sheesh.. it’s a little boggy around here! But all the green things are growing, and the gardens will be gorgeous this summer… Take a look….

We celebrated my mother Kathy’s 85th birthday… pictured in the larger group are her “posse” of friends who joined us. My mom has always made good friends wherever she resides or works and it is a testament to the good friend she is to all. I can say with 100 percent honesty she is my best friend. If you told my 18 year old self I would believe that down the road… well, I wouldn’t have believed it. You might say I was a rebel who hadn’t yet figured out my cause .

Not only was this cake beautiful… made by a local baker… it was delicious!

I’ve been busy in the studio with some new works… water color and acrylics lately… getting away from the heaviness of the oils…. It is SO FREEING!!!

This watercolor was for a dear friend who loves Martha’s Vineyard as much as I do.

And I have enjoyed diving into the world of tiny paintings…. these two are in acrylics… so much fun.

Our goat girls, Bella and Star are now Five years Old… How is that possible. Time flies, no truer words have ever been spoken.

The current egg color palette in the Egg Plant….

And I’ll close this post with a few memes I currently relate to and perhaps you to as well…

I hope all is well in your neck of the woods…

Till soon –

Spring sprung!

We’ve had some crappy April weather, truly. But yesterday it was downright summer-like! Of course, being New England.. we’re back to the crappy weather this morning but oh, the things are greening! The garden on the hill is planted, and my new kitchen herb raised garden is planted, with a little mini fairy house and yard in the middle 🌞

Sunset behind peach blossoms last night….

a hike with two of my girlies, accompanied by Leo and Kai….

I try to buy non toxic products and non-animal tested. Some of the companies I have trusted over the years, I wasn’t aware have been sold out to corporations, and because money is their biggest concern, not our health, they tend to change up the ingredients to cut their costs and boost their profits. If this is important to you, too… check out this list, and then check their ingredients and practices.

During our good weather weekend I took a drive to a dairy farm that is known for it’s outstanding chocolates… Thorncrest Farm in Litchfield, a family owned small dairy farm operation that makes award winning chocolates. They ship! Worth treating yourself or someone you love. They really care about the humane treatment of their cows -they graze them at night for heat and bug stress relief, and their barn is immaculate. That’s important to me, too.

Our patio with my new kitchen herb raised garden in the background…

My two little cherubs – a year old already! Grandparenthood is a wonderful, wonderful chapter of our lives, such a blessing ❤

I hope all is well in your world – Till soon ……

Hitched!

What a weekend! Family and friends arrived from far and wide to celebrate the union of my daughter and her beau. The weather was typical New England fickle early Spring, everything went mostly as planned although we had to move the ceremony inside instead of out on the hill sloping down to the water, because BRRRRR. We all had a wonderful night under the big top, dancing our fool heads off thanks to a DJ who knew how to read the room, enticing young and old to join in the fun. I’ll share more photos when we have the professional shots but here’s a sneak peek.

At around 2 am after everyone had retired for the night… three of us came down with the nasty stomach bug (norovirus) that’s been going around the midwest and northeast. It was ugly. Then a day later, it hit the rest of us here on the farm. Oddly.. and thankfully.. this particular outbreak did not spread to our guests. Amen for that…. and the miracle that it didn’t hit us just 12 hours sooner. We are all feeling better after two days of being mostly in bed if not in the bathroom. Fun times!

Yesterday before the rain I headed out into the woods to hunt the tiny spring blooms I look for each year – they are the message sent from mother nature that indeed the growing season has arrived, if a little fickle with a bit of back and forth. Winter has been reluctant to loosen it’s Grip! That old saying is very true though – if you don’t like the weather in New England, wait a minute or two… Tonight we expect more heavy rain and some wind. Having already lost a few of the towering pines at the front of our property, I hope we don’t lose more of them. They were planted at least 50 years ago in rows, so we have a literal pine forest out there that is aging.

The tiny blooms along the trail out behind the farm fields here….

Long spur violet

nightcap

Trout Lily

And so far in the garden on the hill we have planted the potato trenches and the garlic is thriving… the warmer days make outside chores more enjoyable and my soul is lifted, face to the …. well not the sun very much lately, but I remain hopeful! LOL.

The Mr. rarely takes time off but this year upon his 60th birthday I told him I’m going on a few adventures whether he comes with me or not. It’s time we expand our horizons at least a little bit and do more of what brings us pleasure instead of nose to the grindstone 24/7. We’re taking a few days to explore a bit of southern Maine in mid May and I’ll report on that then. I’m excited for a happy change of scenery, a little adventure – I hope you find time to do the same in whatever way is enjoyable for you –

A delicious salad recipe I haven’t seen before…

This Blackberry Avocado Arugula salad makes the most of fresh produce with cucumber, avocado, hazelnuts, vegan feta and a lime mint vinaigrette!

Ingredients:

Produce

• 5 cups Arugula

• 1 Avocado

• 1 cup Blackberries

• 3/4 cup Blueberries

• 1 1/2 cups Cucumber

• 2 tbsp Mint, fresh

Condiments

• 2 tbsp Lime juice, freshly squeezed

• 1 tbsp Maple syrup

Baking & Spices

• 1 Pepper

• 3/4 tsp Salt

Oils & Vinegars

• 1/3 cup Olive oil

Nuts & Seeds

• 1/3 cup Hazelnuts, toasted

Dairy

• 1/3 cup Feta, vegan or regular

Till soon –

For the Love Of

I love 💗LOVE💗, do you? And jeez, there just isn’t enough of it out there. In simplest terms, I want to hope as hard as I can, that love wins in the end. Good versus evil in all things. I’ll spare you my outrages because you’re all seeing the same damned things on your screens and in your ear.

Here are some things I love –

Grandchildren – these two are already best buddies and it brings me such joy to be a part of their lives.

I love to cook, to create something delicious my family will enjoy. I believe there is much important communication and bonding over a good meal shared together. I learned this from the women in my family – my Grandmother Elsie, my Aunt Virginia, my mom. I believe the effort is so important, to bring the family together to sit down for meals. I always insisted on it when we were raising our children, even when we had crazy schedules with work and school and sports, etc. I was surprised to find out many of my kids friends families did not do this, it was actually a rare occasion.

I also love trying new recipes and eating those yummy things, LOL. Hence some extra pounds. I love a good cookbook and have a plethora of them – here are a few recipes I’ve tried and loved recently from Trisha Yearwood’s second cookbook –

Trisha Yearwood’s Baked Bean Casserole – This can be a side or a meal, it’s hearty enough ( think chili) link to recipe HERE

Now, ham salad usually makes me gag. But, the Mr. loves it. LOVES it. So when I saw a recipe in Ms. Yearwood’s book and she raved about it, I said to myself – you know, you oughta just make the effort for the guy, Karen. See if it’s doable. Welp. It’s more than doable – I actually love it! and it’s so easy to throw together – so tasty. Who knew!?

Uncle Marshal’s Ham Salad *******************

3 cups ground or finely diced fully cooked ham (about 14 ounces)

1 teaspoon finely chopped sweet Vidalia onion

2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Combine ham, onion, relish, mayonnaise and mustard in bowl. Serve salad on crackers or in sandwich.

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I also love making healthy food choices to help this aging body. One of my favorite breakfasts is a simple smoothy, I just throw everything in a blender and drink it up – Spinach, Honey, blueberries, banana, a dash of yogurt, a few ice cubes. Delicious and it’s doing your body some good.

Who doesn’t love fresh produce out of a garden – I’m dreaming of the bounty we’ll enjoy out of our gardens this summer, and the kitchen herb garden we are planning to build off the kitchen slider/porch. Instead of walking up the hill to the big vegetable/berry garden near the barn, I can grab what I need right outside the kitchen porch as I’m cooking. Last year we used a galvanized tub, the kind used for livestock watering, and it was OK for that purpose, but in the ground is better. Perhaps a raised bed. More on that later.

My recovery from hysterectomy is going well, I love when that happens! I’m back to most of my regular chores and life activities with the exception of lifting very heavy things. A few more weeks of caution and I’m good to go.

I hope all is well in your world, and that you love on yourself as needed. That’s just as important as anything else and we tend to forget this, often.

Image by Jane Newland, an artist who’s work I love

Till soon –

Gram x2

Welcome Mia Jane!

Now two weeks old, she is my little sunshine alongside her cousin, my little pumpkin.

Being a grandmother is something I have looked forward to and hoped for, and what a blessing it is.. a whole new chapter. I am so proud of the parents my children have already become.

Johnathan and I discussing world problems…..

Despite our 58 year age difference, we both came up with the same solution….. baby toes….

Has the Canadian wildfire disaster affected your area? We’ve had days of grey and orange hazy skies, ash landing on our plants, awful air quality. Thankfully as of yesterday it appears to have lifted and blown off.

My newest painting on the easel.. almost done. This is a nearby trail at the shore we often walk.

As for our Stella by the Sea…. we have decided to sell the cottage for a few reasons. Some days I am good with the decision, and on other days it’s hard to imagine letting it go. We’ve put so much into her rehabilitation. Our truth is, the care of this farm and the animals who call it home takes a lot of our time and effort and it’s lovely here in summer months. To leave it for the shore frequently is tough due to the responsibilities that remain here daily, and just as important… our family hasn’t used the cottage as much as we had anticipated. One more thing… I’d like to travel some before I’m too old to do it, and having a second place kinda makes you feel obligated to spend whatever free time you have … there. A wonderful family wants Stella very much, and I know they’ll take great care of her. So, I think we’re going to sell to them. I am so grateful for the time we’ve had down there, and my mom as well. Onward to new adventures –

wild nightshade at the seawall.

Ending this post with a little gem of advice…. and I hope all is well in your neck of the woods.

Till soon –

Better Together

Do you celebrate Cinco de Mayo? …The fifth of May happens to be our first date 37 years ago. Holy shit – thirty seven years goes by in a flash. A lot has happened in those 37 years… mostly good, some great, and some awful. We have our differences, like big ones.. we were married, divorced and remarried all in our 20’s. But… we come together in the most important ways and as I get older I value that more than anything else. As anyone who has lived for a while knows….Life can be hard at times and having your best friend by your side through it all is a lifeline. Better together.

Speaking of friendships, love and lifelines… have you read the book or watched Firefly Lane on Netflix? I loved it, I think in the series they got it perfect, the love, the laughs, the trials, triumphs, the heartbreak even. Give it a look or read if you haven’t already.

I keep glancing at the political news and I just cannot believe all the dumbfuckery, the cruelties, the hypocracies and the deceits. Where can the truth be found… and trusted? Where are the consequences? And it’s hard to fathom that we don’t have better candidates to refresh our political landscape with something more logical, forward thinking, honest, folks with a –better together – mentality. Jeeezus, all the corruption. And all the old men should just go. Just… go.

I’ve been walking with Kai on local trails, hope to expand our horizons elsewhere in the state soon, the ticks have been brutal already. I have yet to find an all natural spray that actually repels them all, but maybe it’s helping somewhat. If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments. The trails, the woods, the fields, the rock outcroppings, the shoreline… just beautiful. It’s where I recharge and I love having a dog to share the hikes with, he motivates me to get out there, keep moving. Better together.

Our grandson is doing well, despite being born so early he is tiny but mighty and growing, thankfully. Almost two months old 💙 Our granddaughter is due in a few weeks! Say a prayer for a safe and healthy delivery for mama and baby, will you? To watch both my children become parents at the same time, and us becoming grandparents! (which we just love beyond description!) .. is such a gift.

I like to make a fruit/greens smoothie at breakfast time occasionally – a favorite mix is frozen dark cherries, a banana, some honey, a handful of blueberries and a handful of spinach. Delish! and good for you. Try it!

This farm continues to give me peace as I tend the critters and the barn, appreciate the gardens and walk the fields and give thanks for our journey to here.

I hope all is well in your world, thank you for stopping by.

Till soon,

Showing Up

The drought this year has been brutal, hasn’t it? Our lawns are literally crunchy. Of course this was the summer we decided to tame our back yard garden, tossing what got way too large for it’s space, planting many new perennials and a few flowering cherry trees. So, that’s meant watering watering watering, we are thankful for a very good well here on the farm. Down at Stella by the Sea, we gave up on any ideas of green grass. I have managed to keep the potted geraniums and sweet potato vine alive and the tomatoes from that little garden have been heavenly. Up here on the farm, the yield has been.. meh. And it’s already spent.

Stella tomatoes…

A Stella Sunset taken last night by another photographer with a drone at extreme low tide… where you can walk across the entire cove without getting your waist wet. The water rises about six feet at high tide, so the boats that use our cove have to navigate when they should come and go.

Miss Molly is doing very well here with us, she and Lacey are definitely a team now, and she continues to astound us with her navigation abilities. She knows our voices and whinnies when we come to the barn at feed time, she knows where the gate is and comes right to it to be led in to their stall. When she wants to find Lacey in their paddock she stands still and listens for the bell tied in lacey’s mane, and walks right over to her, as if she had sight. It truly, truly amazing.

More wedding photos, the photog versions have arrived….. Indeed the whole darn lot of us had some good old fashioned fun ✨

Mom and my son…. (she was the JP)

Cousins, Me, Sister, Niece 💕

Boyz to Men – They all grew up together, went to school together, played sports together, and two have joined the group by becoming family… I just love this photo for so many reasons.

The night goes so fast, as they always do when you’re having fun. It was something we all needed, and we all cut loose. It’s times like these that remind us how it feels to be really alive, all in, enjoying each other’s company, casting worries and stress aside. We definitely showed up. When you get the chance… take it.

Leaving you with these wise words right here… I am ALL ABOUT THIS from here on out… So done with the self criticisms, I am so grateful to be here to experience the whole process. We’re winning, friends…. every single blessed day… we are winning.

Till soon, friends…

Grow where you’re planted

Our garden is thriving, and I have to be upfront and say we don’t do all this work by ourselves here in this big plot – we have help from our construction crew – when work load is slow they help in the garden.

Last night I went shopping for dinner up on the hill behind the house, pulled potatoes and onions right out of the ground, it’s a beautiful thing…

I made some triple berry jam, throwing some store bought strawberries in with our blueberries and raspberries…

and made my Grandmother Elsie’s BBQ sauce… she was an outstanding cook and made some fancy dishes including an incredible roast with dumplings and gravy I have yet to duplicate and her pies were legendary- but one of my favorites was her bbq ribs – and her recipe for sauce came off the back of a dominos brown sugar box. It’s soooo yum. The ribs are first baked for an hour at 400 in Coca Cola – then drain the coke and smother with bbq sauce- bake for another half hour till ribs are looking perfectly saucy baked . This sauce can be used on chicken, burgers, even hotdogs !

I grew up on Staten Island where most of us had postage stamp sized yards …. across the street from an old Italian named Joe. He had the most magnificent tiny garden and each summer he would let me come over and pick a few of the best tomatoes for our family. We would save a few for my grandfather, who thought a good garden tomato was food worthy of the Gods and he wasn’t wrong. Joe would also let me eat the peppers right off the plant because that’s how I loved them most, before they were fried or roasted.

It doesn’t escape me for one minute, how fortunate we are to farm this land. What a treasure it is to harvest dinner from our own hill. If you’re not already doing it, I honestly believe it’s one of the best things you can do for yourself- and it can be a container garden on your deck or herbs on a window sill , you don’t need acreage. It just feels so good to stick hands in dirt, tend plants, reap the rewards- and gives children a quality lesson and skill that’s never wasted in life.

Think about it… reap what you sow, grow where you are planted, …

Life is like a garden, you reap what you sow… from your own fertile soils, your seedlings do grow