Garden – This Old House 2

This and That, because clever post titles are hard to come by

For those who left comments on the Dear 2020 post, thank you for joining the conversation on a difficult topic. For me it’s therapeutic to talk it out amongst like minded people, and even to hear a different view when it’s not laced with hate. I’m not religious, but I’m praying for the mental health and humanity of our society as a whole as history unfolds. What a world it could be if not for our own vices, greed and destruction. If only we could just respect each other’s differences and work together for the common good of all. So simple, so attainable, and yet so far from our reality.

Onward! The frigid conditions here on the farm have lifted – in the upper 20’s as I type, and it feels downright balmy. I tried something that worked during our deep freeze – If you water critters outside during winter months – keeping that hydrant from freezing is sticky business. Stuffing a water bucket with hay, and then flipping that over the hydrant when not in use.. works!

The paddocks where a skating rink after the deep freeze. Thankful my husband owns a sanding truck (for work purposes) and I was able to let the horses out into the paddocks after they made a sweep through with the sand/salt. After losing my beloved Opie, I don’t need another equine loss due to a broken leg. Speaking of which – the mini’s and our boarder’s horse, the very old (32 years!) Max are getting along really well – right now I’ve brought them up to the big barn from their smaller shed. Their paddock is still a skating rink, so they’re sharing Max’s for the moment and with Opie’s passing we have a vacant stall. They really like the new arrangement – it’s like they’ve moved up to the big boys dorm.

In my never ending quest to lose this miserable menopausal weight and make healthier eating choices, I came across this chickpea salad recipe – so easy to throw together, very refreshing, too. Recipe and this photo credit to the Striped Spatula… link below photo.

Recipe HERE

Along with this dieting gig which I have yet to really really stick with for the long haul, I do keep up with at least a minimal exercise routine. Daily I tend to the horse and chicken chores, which is usually about an hour of work, but I also get in some aerobic exercise with the dogs – we walk at least four days a week, most often on the farm, where there are fields, hills and woods and long dirt roadways that make it easy, and hard to find excuses since it’s right outside the door. Occasionally I get on the treadmill, but it bores the hell out of me. Being outside and moving along is more motivation for a person like me, anyway.

Bailey, Frasier and Sally love these walks – I leave our cardiac patient, my Dane, Ben – inside on these cold days. There’s another shot of the big window from afar.

Sometimes we get in the car and visit the cottage (Stella) – where I walk the island – also a two miler IF I use all the roadways there. There is also a state park just five minutes from here with a beautiful roadway that circles a pond and stream and even a waterwheel and covered bridge. It’s so beautiful, I scold myself for not using it more often – free if you walk in!

I throw light weight training in for good measure, just three sets of twelve reps, four different muscle groups, doesn’t take long but reaps benefits of keeping me feeling strong, even when I hurt. I’m no expert, but one of my friends who is an expert agrees – I highly recommend a combo of simple stretching, walking and light weight training for anyone, and especially those who are middle to older aged. You don’t need to beat yourself into the ground or use a fancy gym – just a few light handweights you can buy at your local Target or Walmart and a good pair of walking sneakers, etc. will do the trick. Get bored easily like me? Switch it up now and then with a bike ride or kayak or yoga.

Sometimes the very simplest advice turns out to be the best, right?

Use it or lose it…

Arriving home from the woods walk yesterday, I surveyed the current garden plot situation…

What a difference six months makes, huh? Some shots from last summer below… (My weeding skills could be honed some, tis true.)

Tonight I’ll pull out the seed catalogs and

place an online order.

I’m not paid to say anything on this blog…
If I endorse it, I’ve had success with it.

My favorite seed source is Baker Creek Heirloom seeds..

Link HERE.

I find their seeds to be healthy, meaning they actually perform

if you follow the directions properly, and the plants hearty.

That gorgeous zinnia row to the left is courtesy dear friend Hilary
of Crazy As a Loom. She sent seeds from her garden
last year and they flourished.

I have placed the reply option with comments again – last time I did that, many reeaders had trouble leaving a comment at all. So often I want to thank you or answer questions to comments left, remaining silent seems rude, but had no option when I removed that feature. My comments no longer are delivered to my e-mail, where I used to be able to answer. If you visit frequently, leave a comment to let me know you were able to. Let’s see if I got it right this time.

As always – thank you for stopping by.

Fall Classic

That was the name of the horse show this past weekend…The Fall Classic.

Well.. on Thursday? It felt like anything but Fall. We were sweating like menopausal women in a steam room, all day, I kid you not. Of course, some of us WERE menopausal women, but even the kids were dripping. It was YUCK. BUT… my girl pulled up her big girl boots and chaps and hat and jacket and went out there and wowed us – even got a third place in several of her classes. Leah was a trooper, too – such a kind and good minded mare. Amen.

By Saturday, when the husband had to fill in for me because I was running an artisan market here in town with a fantastic co-manager, the temps had dropped enough that people were wearing light jackets…

We’re home for a week to catch up on work and house cleaning and laundry and bill paying and then we’re off to another show in Syracuse for five days. After that we’ll take a break and practice at home until next April. Amen again.

Meanwhile.. I’ve been harvesting the last of my little garden plots – the Zinnia seeds I was gifted by Hilary of Crazy as a Loom produced a stunning array of color, still going strong. The artichokes that we left on the vine have blossomed – have you ever seen artichokes bloom? WOW! They’d be a great accent in borders! My purple pepper experiment was a good one – the sweet peppers are gentle on the digestive tract and so pretty – ending up in a variety of colors. I’ll grow them again next year, I loved adding them to the fry pan, sauteeing with onions, eggplant, tomatoes, potatoes and sweet italian sausage. Alittle S & P, oregano, butter in the bottom of the pan – delish!

After a few fall-like days, the humidity has returned, most likely due to the storms out in the Atlantic. Wishing all in the storm’s path safety and no damage to properties, hoping it is not as bad as they have predicted. Our storm surges down at the cottage have been big already, and it’s not even hitting us directly. We’ve pulled in the kayaks and seat cushions and umbrellas and closed all windows. This picture was taken yesterday after a rain shower – Stella (our cottage) is just under the rainbow’s end on the left, tucked in the trees. Notice Filbert the flamingo, now a little droopy – still out there to weather the .. weather.

I’m admiring the tenacity of this lone sunflower too. The pot sits beside the gate to the horse barn, and this one flower decided to stretch for the sun as tall as it could muster, as the pot is mostly in the shade.

As I published this, the skies opened up and it’s pouring,

with lightening and thunder added for excitement.

Sometimes I love a rainy day…

sometimes, like when I left the horses out in the fields,

not so much.

Out I go…

Till soon, friends –

Thank you for stopping by….

Smiles, everyone… Smiles!

Miss Leah and K are getting to know each other, and it’s looking like a beautiful relationship is taking place…

Meanwhile.. down at the cottage… remember that float we just had to have? And then we popped before it even hit the water, but we patched it? Well it’s been sitting out in the cove for a good part of the summer – and just the other day I decided to take a peek underneath because someone happened to mention you oughta flip that thing over every ten days or you’ll get barnacles and those suckers can be sharp.

Well I heard what he said, but it kinda went in one ear and out the other because… LIFE… and all that. So the other day, I went out there, hauled it to the dock and flipped it, just to see what maintenance might need doing (scraping). To say that half the sea life that lives in the Atlantic was living under that raft, attached to it even!… is just slightly an exaggeration. It was SO FAR GONE, I kid you not, there was no scraping of those 2,000 barnacles gonna happen in this life time, so.. I slashed the thing, let the air out, and allowed the crab hanger-on-ers to scurry back into the water. Crabs! We had been sitting on CRABS! There had to be 2,000 of those too. I did not take a picture, but I shoulda.

So.. the slashed raft remnants are real heavy and sat there for a day or two while we went on to other stuff… and yesterday the Mr. and I decided to go sit down at the cottage for a few hours in the shade and enjoy the water view and breeze. Well, hell.. that breeze smelled like a dead whale carcas surely washed ashore just upwind of us. Only it wasn’t a dead whale.. it was the dead raft and all those barnacles that had now baked in the sun. Our poor neighbors! Who live there during summer and were very gracious… Smell? We didn’t smell anything…. (lie! but a kind one).

Back here on the farm, after a torrential rainstorm and returning humidity – I’m cleaning house, restocked the fridge and am now procrastinating with the catching up on editing for next month’s edition of our local publication (my day job) . I’m trying not to pay too much attention to the news, because holy wow, what a clusterf*ck no matter what you’re general opinion is on absolutely anything.

The Mr. and I are coming up on our 30 year anniversary in September. No one was ever kidding when they’ve said *How Time Flies*. For whatever the reason, mostly work related… my guy is always concerned with the weather, and in particular, rain fall. Every time it rains, he runs out to that cheap plastic rain gauge and comes back in excitedly announcing the inches fallen. “Two inches in the past two hours!”…. “just 1/2 inch today”. Or if I’m closer to the reading of the gauge… “What’s the rain gauge say??”….

Recently I was at a friend’s home and saw the most beautiful rain gauge in her garden. The perfect gift, I thought.. for the guy who has everything except a nice rain gauge, which he practically worships in all it’s cheap plastic expression. This.. is on the way… more fitting of the beloved position it holds in our garden, wouldn’t ya say? I’m not being paid to say it, but if you’d like the same one, it can be found in the Wind & Weather catalog.

Till soon, friends…

Soggy

Holy humidity, Batman! We’ve had a long stretch of rainy humid days but thankfully the sun will return shortly – The ground is soggy, the air feels like – well a friend described it best – a wet dirty sponge. I’ve got the fans on in the horse barn and the A/C on in the house. It’s too wet to trust the fan outside the chicken coop so they’ll have to make do with the puddles that have formed in their coop yard. We haven’t been down to the cottage because the weather is just too yucky. On occasion the sun peeps out and I take the dogs for a quick walk, only to witness the clouds fold right back in and another shower appears.

Our lone bunny, Cloud, she’s not the friendliest – her brother Harley liked people better, but he passed on last year. She lives next to the chickens and has her own yard to run around in, when it’s not storming out. I’ve explained to her multiple times that her life quality would improve if she would only learn to trust us, but she’ll have none of it. So, her hutch and yard are a no cuddle zone.

Some of the girls are molting and look like hell right now. I also discovered mites in their coop and had to treat the whole thing, and them, with diatomaceous earth and I bleached the coop throughly as well. DE is an all natural way to rid them of the mites that sometimes infest a coop, some people even eat it for digestive health. It appears to have worked on the mites, two weeks later we are mite free. I hope.

My giving tree – the ancient pear that stands in the mini’s paddock, has more fruit than ever this year. Considering the tree is half hollow and has lost major limbs in recent storms, that she still bears fruit is simply amazing. The mini’s love the fruit as it drops, some of which I have to scoop out each morning lest they get sugar overload from eating them all.

1,000’s, I’m telling ya.

On days like today, when the weather may call for thunder and lightning, I leave the horses in their paddocks where they have easy access to their stalls (and fans), shelter from any severe weather. They prefer to be out on pasture, but I don’t like to leave them out in the fields with potential lightning. So they are bored as they wander around the smaller paddocks and their stalls, picking at their hay, while the much greener grass is on the other side of the fence.

Opie peeking in the feed room, asking for a treat, please.

My daughter’s retired show horse, Max, likes his creature comforts. If the going gets too buggy or hot or soggy out in the fields, he much prefers the fans and soft shavings and hay offerings in his stall.

The dogs nap as the rain falls, asking to go out occasionally, and only when it’s not raining.

Dear old Ben isn’t fond of the rain or humidity either – He’s now on five heart pills – living on borrowed time, but he’s comfortable and with these pills he’s leading a decent life. So we’ll spoil him until his final day.

One good thing about all this rain is the lush gardens outside my doors…

I’ve made several batches of pesto from all the happy basil plants, my freezer is now stocked well into fall. (This picture taken a day before the rains came – what a difference)

The recipe and card I use was given to me at my wedding shower 30 years ago. I love that idea. Each guest to the shower brought a favorite recipe. I still have most of them!

There are several variations of pesto out there, but this one is my favorite. What’s missing on the card is 2 teaspoons of pine nuts, and 2 cloves of garlic. I make big batches and use lots of garlic.

Delish! Fresh from the garden – If you like pesto, give it a try –

Hot

It’s been unGodly hot over here in New England for the past four or five days. My poor guys have been haying in the miserable heat and humidity – you’ve probably heard the old saying – Make hay while the sun shines. What that means is – you need a series of at least three or four dry sunny days strung together to make hay – it needs to be fairly dry when you cut it.. then it needs to lay down in rows and dry a bit – then you fluff it to air it out and dry some more… then it’s baled and picked up off the field and stored in the big barns. All that dryness is important, as you don’t want a wet bale of hay, which will mold up (not feedable) and possibly cause a fire in your loft if you’re not careful how you stack it. So… we had the string of dry days and the hay needed cutting. It had already been held off due to rains, etc. You can’t stop the process just because it’s too darn hot.

When the guys were not haying, they sure as hell didn’t want to sit out in the heat, so we decided not to have a big fourth celebration with extended family at the shore. Stella (our little seaside cottage) does not have A/C and some are squeamish about taking a dip in the cove to cool off. My husband has learned there are indeed eels out there somewhere – and that was pretty much it for him.

I did go down there in the late afternoon to water flowers, vacuum, and we eventually had dinner when mom and my daughter and husband showed up (he was there for all of about an hour before the humidity got to him). My son and his posse showed up later on before the fireworks display that is put on for islanders out on the point – and they say it was spectacular. In lieu of fireworks, I headed back home to tend horses , chickens and dogs here on the farm, all of whom where not thrilled with the bangs and booms happening out yonder.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch… my gardens are happy – weedy, but happy. My first harvest are these dragon tongue beans. You can pick them at this stage and treat them like you would a string bean, or let them plump up and shell the beans that grow in the pod, use them in recipes like succotash.

Tomatoes just starting to appear – we had a slow start with the wishy washy spring.

I try to keep my vegetable garden organic – over the winter I put some rabbit manure in the soil and blended it in well. I also use this product placed around the drip line of the plant a few times during the growing season.

I’m not much of a drinker but there are a few drinks when served at the right time, well they hit the spot. My sister-in-law served this in a punch bowl and plastic glasses at her son’s graduation pool party last weekend. It’s easy to throw together and guests love it. Put a slice of orange floating in each glass when serving.

Wine Spritzer –

1 large bottle of pino grigio (which I usually don’t like)
1 large bottle of polar orange dry soda
orange wedges

Equal parts of each.

*not my image

Till soon, friends –

Little Gems with big impact

With summer just around the corner, gardening on the farm and that little bit I do at the cottage by the sea is in full swing.

Mowing happens weekly, weeding happens almost daily – and here’s what I discovered about that… It’s much easier to take a four prong rake and simply claw through the soil in a garden regularly than bend over and hand pick out weeds now and then. I suck at the hand picking, because I get lazy about it and it gets, well.. out of hand. The frequent raking is so much easier. And the plants love the “aired out” soil.

As I do that little chore I remember how I learned this simple technique – wise words of an old farmer friend, Louie. He was a master gardener, and he kept his secrets close to the vest. Now and then he’d toss us a gem. One of those was… “you like to breathe, don’t you? Well… so do the plants.” 79 year old Louie passed years ago, suddenly, out in his garden. A sad day. A post on the old gardener, HERE.

Living on a farm, but not having grown up on one… takes work, mistakes happen, and a readjustment of the sails is needed, frequently. We’ve had a small horse farm for 30 years – but only for the last 8 have we lived here at This Old House among fields of hay. It had pretty much gone to the weeds when we acquired the property – How many of you knew that growing hay isn’t as simple as letting the grass get really really long and then cutting it? (we didn’t). Indeed.. there is a whole science to growing good feed hay and even mulch hay or cow feed hay (which has different requirements than horse hay) – from the type of seed you plant, to the ridding of unwanted and even toxic weeds, to the amount of sun and rain available that season, to the number of DRY days strung together so you can cut it at the right time, toss it, let it dry, toss it again, and get it baled up and off the fields before the rain comes. Then there’s the baling or rolling.

We’ve just started our first cutting – a little late due to the number of rainy and cold days we’ve had. What we notice this year is we added in too much clover in a few sections of some of the fields… Clover molds up easily in hay bales – and mold in a hay bale means you throw it out instead of feeding it. Cows and their multiple stomachs have more tolerance for crap hay than horses do, but with horses you don’t want colic (bad stomach ache that can turn deadly) … so you throw out any bales that are iffy. That costs money.

You learn as you grow.

Speaking of learning – on the better health front, I’ve discovered having lived with fibromyalgia for a while now, two things are very important to anyone living with chronic pain.

First – despite the pain you feel daily, KEEP MOVING. Unless of course you’re actually injuring yourself more. (your doctor can direct you) It really does help you feel better and keeps you mobile. My cousin has a severe form of arthritis, has since he was very young. He gets regular IV infusions of a strong drug that helps him keep going. And keep going he does – having just completed a 70 mile mountain bike ride. He is my hero. As for me, I’ve been light weight training out in the gym, hiking with the dogs, kayaking occasionally and walking/running on the tread mill when the hiking is hindered by weather or heat.

Secondly – what you put in your mouth matters. Besides the increased exercise I’ve also been trying to eat better – I know after several attempts over the years to conform to certain diets, I’m just not gonna stick to it. What I can do is be more conscientious about what I put in my mouth. It really and truly is all about what you put in your mouth. The icing is the exercise but it all starts with consumption.

Something else I feel very strongly about – A good way to bring more joy to your own life, to feel a sense of accomplishment, for better mental health and a connection to your community, a connection to people in general, and a way to focus on the positive aspects of life instead of being dragged down into the swamp muck that also exists – is to be a part of the good works going on out there. Volunteer in whatever capacity you are able – don’t ever doubt that even the smallest outreaches have value. Every drop in the ocean contributes to that ocean.

I was recently the recipient of the Melvin Jones Fellow Award given by the Lions Club International in our community for my humanitarian contributions in our little town. What an inspirational evening it was, with my family in attendance. To be among like minded people who are so giving of themselves, so caring and motivated to make change for the better in our community and in society itself is uplifting. It makes the other not so pleasant “stuff” of life seem not so imposing, looming, dooming. This doesn’t mean you have to commit to joining a club, either – I am not a Lion.

Some easy ideas – Got grain bags? Collect the discarded ones and give them to someone who recycles them into tote bags. Recycling is an awesome thing to do for our environment. Got stuff you don’t need or wear anymore? Give to the local Salvation Army or Good Will. Volunteer at the local dog shelter once a week – walk a dog, get in your exercise- win win. Love books? Got a volunteer local library? Take a shift. Donate Blood. Like to knit? Make hats for the homeless, make lap blankets for those who live in a local nursing home. Bake for the church events, the fire house events. Join the walks at the Relay for Life events held around the nation. It’s awesome if you’re financially well off enough that you can give monetary donations to causes you believe in, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Your time, your caring contributions are just as valuable.

When I saw this picture after the event I said – Jeez, Karen – go get a haircut. And so I did.

Side note: The sharing of these pics is not intended to imply that I believe I’m – all that- in any way. But I have learned to appreciate all that is good about me, instead of the laser focus I used to have on all that is not perfect. What a perfect waste of time. If you’re doing that to you, stop the nonsense. Take stock of your strengths and nourish them. Encourage the art of looking for the good, in you and in others. The ripple effect, ya know – that drop in the ocean? yeah.

So about that hair cut – Another tip that was passed along to me and I’ll share with you. I’m not one to fuss a heck of a lot with the aging experience or make up and hair. I’m hoping like everyone else that I stick around for along while and age gracefully and naturally. I love LOOONG hair, but for most of us it’s not particularly flattering to just let it grow out and hang there, drab and without decent shape. That ages us. I’m lazy about going to the hairdresser, admittedly. There’s no doubt, though, when I get in there and tell them to lift me up, indeed they do. So take care of yourself in the little ways that help us appreciate who we are and what we have. It matters.

A shout out to my niece, who graduated from Uconn… and landed a job in their finance department! Yesterday the family gathered at The Mansion at Bald Hill in Woodstock, CT to celebrate her accomplishment and future success –

Thanks for stopping by –

Goose Rocks and Cottage Gardens

My son walked into the kitchen a few afternoons ago and asked if I’d like to go kayaking at the cove. Are ya kidding? Let’s go! …. I think if your grown children enjoy spending time with you now and again, you’ve done something right in life, just sayin.

Inside Joshua Cove…

It was a gloriously warm spring evening and we paddled out to a small island of rocks that sits about a 15 minute paddle beyond the mouth of our cove in Long Island Sound. The water was like glass as we made our way – the sun shining down, warming our shoulders – gulls overhead chattering away and the soft clank of a distant buoy joined the birds conversation. I only know this last part because the boy described it to his hearing impaired mother – he is a kind one. 💕

Heading out to Goose Rocks … or Goose Island as it’s officially called…

As we approached the cluster of rocks I wondered how we’d climb aboard but my son assured me there is a very convenient landing consisting of millions of shells that have washed ashore. Indeed there was…

For such a beautiful night, there were very few boaters out in the water. It was if we had the Sound to ourselves for a brief while. M had an eagle eye, collecting a large assortment of sea glass and shards of pottery. They say when you find pottery pieces, it’s possible they are from cottages lost to storms along the coast.

Mermaid scale?

The beginning of the Thimble Islands out in the distance…

After sea glass hunting and some deep breathing and admiration for the beauty around us, we paddled back to shore, worn yet rejuvenated. Kayaking in the salt air and water does that to you – tires you out and refreshes you at the same time.

Added to the beauty of the sea are the cottage gardens and wildflowers along the little roads – The island is full of spring blooms …..

Because we of the 140 or so cottages share this 300 acre “island” with a herd of cows, they occasionally escape their pasture and come calling… perhaps the grass is greener on the salty side?

*thank you to those who acknowledged their view on the previous post. Politics (and religion!) are not easy topics to discuss and it doesn’t always feel safe to express opinions. While I’ve been trying to avoid the subject for the most part, it doesn’t always feel right to just say or do nothing. There is great power in communication. And.. there’s great power in the vote. Get out and vote at every opportunity – just that.

Have a good weekend, all –

Berries and Gardens

I loved so many things about my Grandmother, Elsie. She was one heck of a great cook and baker, our family was treated to many a three course meal at her elegant dining room table, good china used regularly! ..( I think my mom still has it). Boy, could she make a mean pie – Apple, Chocolate Cream, Banana cream, Blueberry – and speaking of blueberries – she knew how much I loved them. Often when I came to visit, she would offer me one of my favorite snacks – a bowl of blueberries in heavy cream with just a little sugar sprinkled on top. To this day it’s one of my favorites…

With global food transport nowadays, you can get just about anything at any time of year. But, when berry season comes around, I buy local and oooh, that fresh local berry taste! Of course, blueberries and strawberries, blackberries and raspberries warm from the sun, fresh off the vine and popped right in your mouth is the absolute best, and we tried to create that experience here on the farm – more than once. The bird and insects and bunnies won out, however, and we gave up that ship eventually.

Along with my love of berries comes a love for warm berry cobbler, berry pies, scones, the list goes on. Below are a few recipes I’ve found over the years and prove to be a hit – *these are not my recipe, nor are they my pictures. Served warm with slightly melty vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream, delish!

Mixed Berry Cobbler

TRIPLE BERRY PIE

Now, on to the gardens.

We had a glorious weather day yesterday, so I took advantage and stuff got done here at the farm in the gardens.

First, we got rid of all the knock.out roses we planted around the foundation of the house 9 years ago when restoration was complete, because despite their reputation for being a really easy rose, they turned out to be a pain in the @$$. They just were never truly happy – between the bugs and the rain rot and the mold and the grubs and the beetles and the worms – we finally ripped them out and replaced them with some interesting shrubbery…

Below is a shrub that’s new to me – an orange Azalea that has a lovely scent –

In front of the back porch – (this picture taken just minutes ago – yes, rain again. ) I planted two spirea yellow/green leaf) and another in the center, who’s name I have forgotten. There are day lilies and Sweet William in front of them, a hydrangea to the left, bee balm, daisies and two large shrubs who’s name I have also forgotten on the right, that have tripled in size in one year.

Three of the four shrub nest babies have hatched! They are Chipping Sparrows,

thank you to Florida Farm Girl, who correctly identified the parents!

I cleaned up the bird bath garden – and beyond it you see our vegetable garden.

The raised beds are now full with Tomatoes, yellow stringbeans, purple peppers, sweet basil, eggplant (the little ivory and purple striped variety) artichoke – because my son wanted to try them, Spinach, dragon tongue beans (yellow purple stripe) and two rows of Zinnia (Thanks, H).

Over at the shed in the little Pig Garden …

It felt so good to get all that in the ground, I separated some perennials that could afford the thinning ( well I could sure afford some thinning) in the remaining shrub pots and brought them down to Stella by the Sea this morning and planted those too, before the raindrops began to fall.

Some gems hand painted in water color by Susan Branch…

I’ll just never be a toenail painting chick, and I suppose this blog is as close to a diary as I’ll ever get, but the rest of it sound perfectly wonderful to me.

Thanks for stopping by –

This one requires a cup of coffee ..

No really – lots to cover, go get one. And a donut – trust me on this. side note: I just found out the Redneck Donut Truck (actual name) up the road a piece is packing up after today to move back to their homeland four towns over – this is terrible news, and it’s very good news, depending on whether you talk to my mind or my “matter” . Their canoli donut was thebestpieceofdonut I have ever had, ever.

Anyway…

First let me say, if you were in on the religion conversation post, thank you so much for your thought provoking and respectful answers – I so enjoyed reading your take on the subject. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that.

I’m not a dyed in the wool Royal Watcher although I’ve read the headlines over the years, seen the stories, watched news coverage of the weddings, the funerals, the scandals even. I watched along with everyone else in horror as Diana’s world unraveled and ended really badly and far too soon. Who doesn’t admire how those two boys have persevered in the glare of the royal spotlight over the years, carrying out their born duties with some grace and class, and fun! Harry underlined here. Harry is my favorite and he and his bride were humanitarians before they met each other – imagine the dynamic team they will be. Watching the royal wedding today, you’d have to be dead not to notice the radiance and genuine smiles shared between he and Meghan M. I loved her choice of simple yet elegant gown and veil, and the personal and refreshing twists they bestowed on the wedding ceremony itself. Truly they are a breath of fresh air, bringing the Royal Family into a more modern light. Surprisingly I had tears in my eyes as I watched this morning, and I’m no sap.

So… this guy showed up on our side porch the other day… a gift from a dear friend just because, a fellow blogger who shares my birthday! It was evident right away that Henry was not made for farm life, so I brought him down to Stella by the Sea to see if that environment suited him better.

Aaaah, MUCH better.

While we’re here, let me show you the new furniture reveal. The couch and chair are of rugged material a summer cottage demands, in soothing shore colors that say Relax! Summer! The Mr. and I moved furniture around yesterday because last year it felt like we just jammed stuff in there in our big rush to enjoy our first “cottage life” season. So the little space felt.. rushed.

The table and chairs are now centered in the room, not pressed against the windows…

The rug that was in that floor space all by itself is now in the kitchen work area…

My $100. “Edith” chair now in the “living room” area instead of squished in a corner of the bedroom where it got no use. (the table and chairs used to be in that back corner to the left of the Mr. ) We do have to relocate the little chandelier now that there’s no table under it.

The new recliner and couch with a sturdy whitewashed bench type table for putting feet up or resting drinks, etc. on.

Let’s head outside… An Awesome quality about cottage life – small spaces are easy to clean – and mow! Garden management is minimal. My new perennials are happy and growing… they like all this rain we’ve been getting.

The robins on the back porch – initial there were four eggs in the nest.

Then it looked like this just four days ago… and I thought there were only two…

Now they look like this… and there are very definitely three. Absolutely amazing, the speed of the development of birds from egg to fledgling.

I’ve also put a few galvanized pots of flowers on the stone steps down to the water.

Believe it or not, this type of super petunia is happy in that environment –

wind of the water, rain and all.

And meanwhile, back at the ranch… we’ve got another cold, rainy day in store. This is my current view out the kitchen sliders. There is a little tiny nest in the shrub at bottom right…

Inside that shrub is a perfect little nest with four tiny tiny eggs.

This is momma or dad. A song sparrow perhaps?

Waiting anxiously for me to leave the area.

My rescue friends are holding an adoption event this weekend for shelter dogs in neighboring Durham, CT at the fairgrounds – 30 of the 60 dogs in attendance got homes in the first three hours, just amazing. This is no easy feat – The dogs from down south are most often pulled from kill shelters or taken from abusive situation or strays that have been caught. Then they are spayed, neutered and fully vetted and housed with fosters or with the rescues directly and evaluated for temperment and training. Applications are taken and references are called and interviews conducted before any of the dogs are allowed to go home with their new families – It’s quite an operation, takes many many volunteers. We’ve been doing this for about 9 years now, and it’s heartbreaking and extremely rewarding at the same time.

Yesterday I stopped in to drop off food for volunteers and help unload the dogs that had just arrived. This little guy, whom my friend Lillian calls a squirrel, would have come home with me if I didn’t have four already. He and his litter mates were so darn cute, hard to believe they were dumped. Those ears!!…

If you’re local and want more information, visit

www.homewardboundct.org

Whew! are you still with me? We covered a lot of ground today –

Time to spend a little quality time with the Mr.

Got to stay in good standing in case I want to

bring another “squirrel” home some day.

Till soon, friends –

Spring on the farm and a Happy Mother’s Day to all –

This is truly the most glorious time of the year for farms, even a small one like ours. Fresh green grass in the hay fields, blooms on the fruit trees and ornamentals, the garden plants beginning to grow, perennials have made their reappearance and even multiplied, even the animals demeanor is uplifted. This particular Spring season took it’s sweet time arriving, but here she is in all her glory –