Category: Good reads

Four days later….

 

Two posts in one week?  Welp… it’s dark and damp and chilly outside and while the barn chores beckon, they can sleep for another hour, yet I cannot… so here I sit.   Middle middle age has not been kind in the sleep department.   I wish I had a good solution for that.

I used to talk politics a little (well, mostly my outrage) here on this blog but I’ve tried to get away from it as much as is responsibly possible for my own sanity.  What I will say is I am truly so discouraged by the state of things in this country regarding our governing bodies.  The infighting that prevents solving our critical issues, the division between civilians, not just our elected officials.  The corruption, the egos, the greed, the failures.

Out of that rabbit hole we go…  On to  more cheerful things…  and one place I find solace is in the writings of a now deceased author who’s words still ring true for me in all matter of things,……. Gladys Taber.    I wrote more about her  here in THIS blog post if you’re interested.  AND.. if you’re a Gladys fan already, I just discovered I ordered a book of hers that I already have in my collection. So, I’ll happily ship it off, once it arrives,  to one of you if interested.  Let me know in the comments and one lucky person will receive it.  The Best of Stillmeadow is the volume I refer to.  Her books are no longer in print so I find them occasionally on old book seller sites.

Some snapshots of my days here on the farm….

These photos above and below taken days apart – New England weather fluctuates tremendously. No jacket one day, hats and gloves the next.

Sometimes you just buy your own damn flowers 🙂

Sunset on our hill

My heart 💗💗

My favorite folksy artist… Jane Newland out of the UK

Words to live by……

      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,

 

The Happening You Must Focus On

 

 

     It is easy to mourn the lives we aren’t living. Easy to wish we’d developed other talents, said yes to different offers. Easy to wish we’d worked harder, loved better, handled our finances more astutely, been more popular, stayed in the band, gone to Australia, said yes to the coffee or done more bloody yoga.
     It takes no effort to miss the friends we didn’t make and the work we didn’t do and the people we didn’t marry and the children we didn’t have. It is not difficult to see yourself through the lens of other people, and to wish you were all the different kaleidoscopic versions of you they wanted you to be. It is easy to regret, and keep regretting, ad infinitum, until our time runs out.
     But it is not the lives we regret not living that are the real problem. It is the regret itself. It’s the regret that makes us shrivel and wither and feel like our own and other people’s worst enemy.
     We can’t tell if any of those other versions would have been better or worse.      Those lives are happening, it is true, but you are happening as well, and that is the happening we have to focus on. ~Matt Haig
(Book: The Midnight Library) 
    I love that passage so much!  I also read the book, and while it wasn’t one of my favorite reads, it’s a good one… and that group of text above? Spot on.  Who among us hasn’t dreamed another dream, had a few regrets, wasted too much time on what isn’t.  And we all know, life is short and too precious for such nonsense.  I am a firm believer in making the best of every day, even when I catch myself doing anything but.  Then I readjust the sails.
     The new barn has been a Godsend here on the farm. Both of our girlies are very pregnant and I’ve taken over all barn chores again, which means a lot of water buckets and hay bales and stall mucking etc. etc.   With the yoga and stretching/meditation I’ve taken up, my body is faring better than I had expected. 40 plus years of all that work  has left me with some arthritis and worn parts, blah blah. But it’s also made me a strong work horse and I’m grateful to  still be able to do it. And I love those animals so.  They are my heart and my peace and my salvation often.  We got our first real snow of the winter on march 1st.  In New England, that’s just strange. But it’s made all that work easier on this older girl.
      I have always felt the sky is like  a painting we live under, it’s landscape always changing, and all we ever need to do is look up to see the mood of the moment, the beauty of nature, the temperament of the weather gods.  Who hasn’t marveled at a full moon rising, the night stars on a cloudless night, the rolling roiling storm clouds coming across the horizon or the gorgeous colors of a beautiful sunrise-sunset.  On the hill and fields of this farm we have what I call big sky country, a big patch of blue  with  many glorious sunrises and sunsets.
  I made a few more recipes from The Lost Kitchen files…
New England baked beans and brown bread –  first time I ever bought a slab of salt pork, had to ask the butcher where to find it at the store.
 And Waldorf Salad – with apples, celery, Fennel, arugula, lemon juice and zest,  candied walnuts, mayo, salt & pepper… SOOO GOOD!
     The Mr. turned 59!  We had a lovely family dinner at one of our favorite restaurants near our Stella by the Sea.  Our mothers are still with us and we are so grateful they are here to meet their first great grands.
 Cheers to many more years!
 I completed the Woodstock, VT  Middle bridge painting, whose true angles are a bit skewed in any photo taken, so this was a real challenge and it’s far from perfection, but I’m glad I attempted it.  The bridge for me  represents many happy family memories there  and hopefully more to come.  The lighted star up on the hill is the first thing I look for when we drive into town.
   Had a physical this week, and it’s clear I need to get serious about cleaning up my diet.  Cholesterol numbers less than stellar, weight – about 25 pounds overweight.  Bleh.  I get plenty of exercise, so… as the doctor has often said… it’s what you put in your mouth.   Each new day is a chance to get it right.. right? I’m making a concerted effort to improve those numbers.  Being a food loving person and one who likes to cook and bake for others, it ain’t easy.
      I hope all is well in your neck of the woods – till soon 🌹

Mild Winter Days and the Lost Kitchen

 

Hello from Leo and I… Leo is my son’s “first son”….  in this photo he’s doing his typical thing when I go visit him at lunchtime on occasion – I have to coax him out to pee and have a snack, and then he takes up his vigil in the big chair once again looking out over the driveway because *WheresMyDAD*.   The rest of us are just furniture.

Their cat, Lily… well she could be described as a honey badger… if you know, you know.

Yesterday was T-shirt weather here in New England. Crazy for February!  However, with my girlchild very  pregnant with her first child and my taking back over most of the barn responsibilities .. I am so very grateful for the reprieve.  It makes barn chores so much easier.  So many of the mornings have been glorious!

Bella and Star approve of the fine weather.. and they love their new living quarters in the new barn and barnyard.  They’ve got more room to roam and run up and down the front hill, leaping with joy. I love to see it.

Our old man, Max-a-million is doing very well, we’ve been able to manage the glaucoma in his left eye with meds.  After a long show career and service to many people, this is the retirement every horse should get but seldom do.  I am grateful to be able to grant it to him.

Our recently adopted blind mini, Molly is my most favorite horse… she is just amazing with her navigation skills.  Our other mini Lacey tolerates her, and that’s about it.  At least she doesn’t abuse her, which was the case in her previous home.

Beautiful Leah graces us each day with her company.  A very good minded horse, she will always have a home with us, as she is wonderful to ride, will be great for the grandchildren to learn to ride on  someday and while she was bred to show and it’s true she’s a bit fancy for a “home horse”,  we know she much prefers this life to the grueling show life.

Have you been watching The Lost Kitchen (HBO MAX) … with reknown chef Erin French?  I love that show… what a resilient person. Her food is phenomenal and creative, her story remarkable.  I treated myself to her cookbook and her memoir – Finding Freedom.. and The Lost Kitchen cookbook.   SO far I’ve made her fried chicken with perfect potato salad and blueberry sweet and sour sauce,   and her pear cake.  Both are out of this world delicious and not hard to make.   If you’re a foody or just like a great true story of redemption and triumph,  I highly recommend these two books, and I’m not being paid to say it.  Even the photography is gorgeous. You might come to love Maine and its salt of the earth people, too. I already do.

Have you ever cooked with a cast iron pan?  Man, what I have been missing! I was intimidated by the “seasoning” of the thing and the first one I bought many years ago rusted because I washed it like any regular pan.  This time I’m doing it right and you really can’t beat the results.

     I hope all is well in your neck of the woods – Wishing you love and light this Valentines Day – Not everyone has a Romeo in their lives, if you do.. you are very lucky indeed.  There are so many ways to celebrate love.. and most especially for yourself!  Treat yourself in the ways you find comfort, indulge in the good chocolate, make  (or buy!) that chocolate cake.  Buy the fancy dreamy creamy soaps, splurge to frame that painting.  Buy the flowers,  and know this from the bottom of your blessed heart…

you are loved and loavable❤

 

Till soon, friends –

 

 

a Quilt of a post

Well let’s start with an actual quilt! Through blogland I have met some wonderful people, some of whom I consider dear friends.  I have been collecting my son’s old t-shirts from childhood with the intent of having a T-shirt quilt made for him. Finding someone to do it proved difficult.. and then it dawned on me I have a very talented friend who does all sorts of creative things including sewing but mostly weaving beautiful towels, rugs, shawls, etc. for many years.  So I asked Hilary over at Crazy As A Loom if she’d be willing to give this project a go, and boy did she ever! It came out better than I expected, my son loves it too. She said it’s her first T-shirt quilt, and her last, LOL.  As I suspected, it’s a mighty pain in the a&& to make, but I am so grateful she was willing.  My son and daughter in law are  expecting their first child in May and one day this will be an heirloom for generations to come. It’s so warm and cozy.

Not sure if it’s the strange weather, a too warm and then frigid cold  winter we’ve had here in New England… this fibromyalgia body has been in flare.  When that happens I’m tempted to get lazy and slow down but with all the barn chores that’s not really possible and I do find if I keep moving I’m better off.  I walk often and hike occasionally – this weekend we went over to the Scout Camp at Deer Lake and hiked to Fat Man Squeeze.  I’m glad I still fit!   When I adopted Kai he was a timid soul, so much so that on these hikes he would be afraid to go over big logs, afraid to climb rock  and ledge, afraid to go into caves or up the very narrow squeeze.  With the trust we’ve built over the past two years, while he’s still timid, he has come a long way and easily goes where I go without freezing, without me having to carry him up and over as we did initially.  It’s a beautiful thing.  Truly he is the best walking/hiking companion I’ve ever had.

I’m not a bendy person, so certain forms of Yoga make me look like the walking dead…..but yoga is really good for this fibromyalgia body and years ago I found a DVD set and used it for a long time and it really helped. It was great for beginner or low level yoga people like me. We got a new Tv  system and no longer had DVD player and I just stopped, which was dumb. I’m thrilled to say I just found the exact series on Amazon prime $15 purchase and I can do it right in my office while it streams on my screen or on my flat screen tv in the family room via prime video. If this sounds like you to some degree- I highly recommend the Kate Potter series, seasons 1 and 2 in particular. It’s Calming, fun, enough of a work out that you accomplished something, and helps you stay limber, strengthens your core and overall body.

I’ve also carved a little time out for painting… the bridge picture is coming along… still much to do but I’m happy with it’s progress…

The following made me laugh out loud, and anything that does that is worthy of sharing…

Reading a good book right now, that gives a different perspective on the fallout and a different kind of  victim of the Holocaust.. another dimension, another layer I had never given thought to before, and I have mixed feelings about it as well.   I recommend it if you’re a reader – very well written

  I hope all is well in your neck of the woods…  Thank you for stopping by

Till soon!

From Karen’s Mother

For those of you looking for a little light in this dark hour, may I suggest a book my book club is discussing this month, “The Day the World Came to Town” by Jim DeFede. It is not new, twenty years old in fact, but just as relevant as it was on the day it was published, maybe more so. It is a reminder of what we can be when we embrace with grace and goodwill our shared humanity.

Compiled from interviews, this slim paperback describes the events in Newfoundland that followed the detouring of 38 international flights to the Gander airport on 9/11/01. Into a town of 10,000, planes arrived with a total of 6,595 passengers and crew. Among them were people from Moldova, Africa, Germany, two adopted babies from Kazakhstan, a New York couple worried about their firefighter son.

The outpouring of goodwill from the native Newfoundlanders was boundless. People, individually and through their organizations, offered shelter, clothes, showers, medicines, toys for kids, and hot meals to weary passengers. Luggage had to be left on board planes and no one was allowed off until security measures had been taken. It was hours before most of them knew what had happened in New York, Pennsylvania and D.C.

Even before passengers had disembarked, the townspeople had organized the logistics for shelter and food without skipping a beat. They were not only generous, they were smart and thorough in their planning and gathering of resources. “For the better part of a week, nearly every man, woman, and child in Gander and the surrounding smaller towns… stopped what they were doing so they could help. They placed their lives on hold for a group of strangers and asked for nothing in return.” writes DeFede in his introduction.

I had to smile when I got to page 64 and read “The Gander Lions Club has forty-seven members and a building it shares with the local senior citizens’ group…Pulling up to the Lions Club, the buses were greeted by a dozen people all waving and smiling and calling out, “How she going’, buddy?” The stranded passengers in those buses were given a place to sleep, food to eat, and their first look at a TV and the news from the States. Here was another group of Lions like our own in Killingworth, in another country, following the same motto, “We serve!”

The information on the history of Newfoundland, its people, and that of Gander airport, though brief, is interesting and relevant to the events of the week. But it is the authenticity and generosity of its people that will not soon leave you. Perhaps one of their favorite songs says it best:

Raise your glass and drink with me to that island in the sea

Where friendship is a word they understand.

You will never be alone when

you’re in a Newfie’s home,

There’s no price tag on the doors in Newfoundland.

There will always be a chair at the table for you there,

They will share what they have with any man.

You don’t have to worry friend if your pocket is thin,

There’s no price tag on the doors in Newfoundland.

And for five days in September of 2001 they proved it. (A popular Broadway musical, “Come from Away” is about the same events.)

If Cake could fix it…

… this would be the one, I’m tellin ya –  yes it’s from scratch, and there’s more work involved than throwing the mix in the bowl with a few eggs and water and mixing it up, bake,  open the tub of fake frosting and pile it on.  But…. the extra elbow grease for this one is soooo worth the effort.  Delish! and so fresh tasting.  This is not my recipe or photo, found it on the web somewhere….  I made it less complicated with just two layers, no one complained and it was almost inhaled, it was that good.

STRAWBERRY MOSCATO CAKE  with CREAM CHEESE  BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Ingredients

    • 4 large eggs,
    • 1 1/2 C strawberry puree
    • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
    • 2 tsp strawberry extract
    • 1/2 cup Moscato (that’s a sweet white wine in case, like me, you are clueless) 
    • 2 to 3 drops Pink gel food coloring
    • 3 C cake flour
    • 1 3/4 C sugar
    • 1 tbsp plus 1/2 tsp baking powder
    • 1 tsp kosher salt
    • 1/4 C canola oil
    • 1/2 C unsalted sweet cream butter
    • 10 large strawberries sliced thinly to go in-between the cake layers
    • 1/2 cup moscato reserved- saved for after its baked ( I didn’t do this, forgot! ) 
Cream Cheese Buttercream Frosting ingredients
  • 3 – 8 oz box, cream cheese, softened
  • 3/4 C unsalted sweet cream butter, softened
  • 6 C powdered sugar
  • 4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 5-7 TBSP heavy whipping cream

Instructions

Strawberry Moscato Cake directions
    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray the cake pans with pam baking spray, set aside
    2. In a separate bowl, combine eggs, strawberry puree, moscato, vanilla, strawberry extract, pink food coloring, whisk until combined
    3. Using a standing mixer, whisk together the cake flour, sugar, baking powder and salt until combined
    4. Slowly beat in the butter and canola oil until combined
    5. Once the mixture looks like coarse sand, gradually beat in the egg mixture until combined. The batter will be very thick and fluffy but so good!
    6. Evenly divide the cake batter in the prepared pans
    7. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pans 10 min. then turn out.
    8. drizzle the remaining 1/2 cup of moscato over each cake evenly (more if desired or forget this step altogether like I did)
Frosting Directions:
    1. Using a standing mixer, cream together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, powdered sugar and heavy whipping cream until combined and creamy and stiff with peaks
Directions to prepare the cake:
  1. Once cake rounds have cooled, remove from cake pans and place onto a cutting board
  2. Using the cake leveler, remove the domes of the cakes
  3. Place one cake round onto the cake board
  4. Scoop 1 C of the frosting onto the middle of the cake
  5. Using the angled spatula, smooth the frosting out
  6. Layer some thinly sliced strawberries onto the frosting
  7. Place the second cake layer onto the first layer
  8. Repeat steps with the frosting and remaining cake layer
  9. Scoop 1 C of frosting into the piping bag and set aside
  10. Once you have built your cake, scoop the remaining frosting onto the top of the cake and use the angled spatula to smooth it out
  11. Frost the entire cake until smooth
  12. Using the piping bag, pipe dollops of frosting around the edge of the top of the cake
  13. Place sliced strawberries onto the dollops
  14. Enjoy!

I’m trying to untangle myself from the anger  and disbelief and yes, grief I feel every time I pass by the big screen in the mancave and see the news blaring at my significant other.  I’m also trying to avoid glancing, however briefly, at the headlines on CNN and the like when on my computer .. BUT.. what I won’t do is bury my head in the sand all together. So I am still  proactive in doing whatever my tiny little self can do, me, this drop in the proverbial ocean – I’m donating where I can, I’m volunteering where I can,  I’m looking for the good anywhere and everywhere, and I’m trying to ignore the fact that some of my friends and family are supporting something I feel is absolutely intolerably unsupportable in any decent frame of mind, because I don’t want to hate people I used to care about, I don’t want to be disappointed continuously, it’s no way to live.

Have you ever heard of The Dowager Duchess of Devonshire? No?… me either.. until I saw this picture –  and wanted to know more.

I ordered her memoir on Amazon, titled  Wait For Me!   It looks like just the tonic needed for my weary brain.  That’s her up there …. this is me…

Uncanny resemblance,  AmIright? … lol..

Sharing one more thing with you before I head up to the barn for dinner feeding and eye med administration to our old boy, Max.   Are you a tea drinker?  I’m not so much, however I love this tea – Harney & Sons Dragon Pearl Jasmine…  the best way I can describe the unusual taste…it’s  like a walk through the local nursery greenhouses when everything is in full bloom even though just outside the glass doors  exists that thick New England winter-grey curtain, yet to be lifted by the greening tendrils of Spring.

Till soon –