Garden – Page 3 – This Old House 2

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.

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

Pretty in Pink

We woke up yesterday morning to a soft rosy glow blanketing just about everything. It had rained during the night and the rising sun was trying to burn through the mist, and most plants in bloom in my gardens right now are pinkish. It was just so peaceful.

See the rainbow?

We’ve just returned from a four day horseshow – and if that sounds like fun, well it is sometimes. And it’s also a whole heck of a lot of work, dirty Heavy Sweaty work. At one point the wind was kicking dust around so bad, we were all covered in about five pounds of dirt/dust/sand after a half hour practice. When I got into the shower that night, I swear the dirt ringing around the drain could have potted a plant.

K and Miss Leah had some real competition, they made some mistakes and they had some triumphs. This little horse is just a wonderful guide – she’s patient and calm, the perfect match for K. In turn, K takes great care with her and is gentle even in her riding style. It’s great to watch them develop real teamwork.

We’ve met some wonderful people too – competitors helping each other, consoling each other, laughing together. In this sometimes ugly world, being even a small part of that camaraderie is like a balm for the soul. If you are as weary as I am of all the crap out there, I recommend you seek out that camaraderie and nurture it, whatever your interests.

We’ve got the foundation poured for K’s house next door – it’s getting real now! That’s our home in the background, just a hop, skip and jump.

I hope all is well in your world – and thank you so much for the kind words regarding Ben – …….. Till soon

Scategories

So much to cover here! But first, an observation. I love having my own blog, meaning I truly own it, and it can’t disappear someday when Google decides to get rid of blogger. The downside is, it appears many friends who used to stop in regularly either haven’t found the space or are no longer interested in reading it. While it’s never been my goal to accumulate a large number of readers, more a journal for me to keep, I have truly enjoyed getting to know the folks who stop in here. It sort of feels like some good neighbors have moved away and didn’t keep in touch.

So, we’ve been busy around here! And… I haven’t paid much attention to the goings on in Washington, it’s been blissful! Although oddly, it also feels irresponsible, which of course it isn’t.

My daughter K and I were at a horse show for a few days, and she and Miss Leah had a great show! She grabbed her first Blue Ribbon in Western Pleasure with Leah and two 2nd’s. At the risk of embarassing her here, I’m so proud of K for her courage and determination. She shows me every day what it means to tackle and overcome some of the hard things life can throw at you, and these pictures are the proof.

I think they should bring back the Tired Grooms class, just sayin. That morning I was truly running on Dunkin.

The farm this show was held on is beautiful – looks like it goes on for miles.

We spent Sunday and Monday at the cottage, had a cookout with family and the weather was glorious! I got my first paddle in around the cove, even brought my co-pilot.

This little “island” community of approximately 140 cottages sits on a 360-ish acre shorefront farm owned by the same family since the 1600’s. They still farm a portion of that property, and often we are greeted by the cows as we drive down the narrow lane to the waterfront. These cows also have lush fields not visible in the picture, but they often wander down into the marsh to cool off.

Lilacs here on the farm and on island are just about done, Iris are in full bloom and the poppies are gorgeous – I need to plant more of those, they are so cheery, uplifting , a real splash of bold color. My vegetable gardens are planted, too – a tiny one at Stella and two raised beds of a good size in the backyard. My seedlings looked anemic this year, I’m hoping now that they’re in the ground they’ll flourish. The Phlox are gorgeous!

My Spring Chicks are almost as big as the grown girls – notice the mesh that separates them from the adults – soon they’ll be big enough to incorporate into the flock and I can take down this make-shift nursery, which they are indeed outgrowing rapidly.

I mentioned my blog neighbors above, well the best news of all is we’re getting new neighbors right next door. When we bought this old house and farm and resurrected her, we also had the idea in our heads that if the children chose to live in this area once they graduated and started their adult lives, they could have a lot on the farm and build a house for themselves if it worked for them. I’m very very happy to report that both have decided to do just that, and have been saving their hard earned money while living in apartments with their significant others (who we also love.) Yesterday we poured the footings for K’s house foundation – So… once again here on this blog you can follow along on a house build. She’s chosen a charming cape style house that will blend with the old homes in this neighborhood as if it’s been here for 200 years, just like our “Grace”. The upstairs will remain unfinished to keep the mortgage down, until they have a need for the two bedrooms and bath that will eventually go upstairs. The master will be on the first floor. Stay tuned!

Last night we took Mom out for a Birthday celebration Lobster dinner, the food was divine and the laughter around the table priceless. Happy Birthday, Mom – we all love you very much. May we celebrate many more birthdays together, and may the laughter and love continue to flow around the table as easily as it did last night.

Till soon, friends – thank you for stopping by –

When there’s no sun, find some light

New England is still wearing her dingy grey cloak, refusing to take it off in order to properly herald Spring. So what’s a Yankee to do? … head to the garden center to purchase some cheer! Mom joined the Mr. and I on a jaunt across the CT river , where we bought some bright red geraniums which I’ll plant in the big pots down at Stella-by-the-Sea in the coming days.

On the way we stopped for lunch across from the Goodspeed Opera House in East Haddam…

So many charming centuries old homes in this part of town… tulips and flowering trees everywhere!

On to Balleks, a family owned farm/garden center/greenhouse that’s been in the Ballek family since the 1660’s – how’s that for history. Some of the Ballek family in their 90’s still roam the isles helping customers, it’s a lovely thing to see.

They have SO many unique plants inside the large greenhouse and two big old silos that have some tales to tell, I’m sure.

The “pods” below are large – you could put your reading glasses in there.

Meanwhile.. back on the farm – I’ve moved the chicks to the big coop, creating a temporary nursery out there inside the covered enclosed chicken yard, complete with their heat lamp. They got too big for the chick condo on the porch and it was beginning to look like a pig pen out there with shavings and hay and chick food and chick dander littering every surface from ground to ceiling. Bleh. I did scrub the porch once everything was out – we’ll actually be able to sit out there again once it dries.

The new girls in their temporary coop nursery

Which is basically a sectioned off area in the big covered coop “yard” separated with bird mesh and a tarp, wrapped on the outside with a plastic drop cloth to keep the wind off them.

The big girls on the other side of the tarp.

So much work to integrate five little chicks into the fold! But the reward of fresh eggs and a flock of chickens in the yard is well worth the effort.

More rain for tomorrow – I’ll most likely be at my desk catching up on the editorial stuff that earns me a paycheck. I suppose the upside to all the rain and a steady string of grey days is all the inside work I get done when the sun isn’t calling to me.

I hope all is well in your world – may we all have many sunny days ahead.

Birds of a Feather

Allow me to introduce you to purple finch mama and papa bird, and their three little eggs – all sitting about five feet from me on the lantern right outside my office window as I type this post. If I have the species wrong, feel free to correct me. They come back every year, a sure sign that Spring has arrived, regardless of whether the weather concurs.

Meanwhile.. out on the back porch – the chicks look more like chickens now… and will soon be moved out to a sectioned off part of the coop I’ve arranged for them until they are full grown and can be turned out with the rest of the flock. They are quickly growing out of their two-box condo.

This past weekend we also put our first Horse show of the season in the books – It was a cold and mostly wet windy rainy weekend but K and Miss Leah did very well with their trail patterns which are no easy feat to memorize, let alone complete, and although they didn’t place in their other classes, they completed them without major errors and Leah was so well behaved, I just love this good minded mare. Proud of K for learning a new discipline so quickly and enjoying the process and her horse regardless of the placing. That’s what it’s all about.

One of the four days we saw the sun and with it, smiles everywhere…

Yesterday I brought the dogs down to Stella to plant some Zinnia in the tiny cottage garden and put the trash out for pick-up. Grass cutting didn’t happen, too wet. After chores we went for a long walk exploring the “island”. Although the skies were grey, there was plenty of Spring color…

Frasier is always the first of the season to go for a swim.

Meanwhile – back at Winterfell (if you’re a GOT fan but haven’t seen it yet, turn away)…. Holy cow – Season 8 Episode 3 – Winter finally arrived! And what a murky, epic battle – what we could see of it anyway. All my favorites are still standing (Sigh of relief!) and still so many questions – and more to come. All I want to say about that.. is this…

More grey skies for the coming week – not sure we’ve ever seen so many rainy days strung together in a row. The following picture is of our senior boys, Max 1 and Max 2, out grazing in the pasture this morning. Time to go bring them back in.

I hope all is well in your world – and thank you for stopping in …