cherry tomato remains on the hoophouse floor                                                                                               “Trust your crazy ideas”   The little sign hangs above my desk in the office, a relic from some near-forgotten bit of retail therapy. I have no idea why that little sign on the clearance she ..read more

  “what is so rare as a day in June…” There is nothing quite like a beautiful June day…the brilliant blue of the sky, dotted with puffy white clouds that float by as the scent of freshly cut hay or the perfume of honeysuckle wafts through on the gentle breeze. Birds singing, flowers blooming…ah, yes! This is summertime in all its golden promise, before the heat and humidity send us scrambling for a cooler spot and the bugs and garden pests cause us any sort of aggravation and discouragement.   This year first of June seems significant in another way… We spent June 1, 2021 at the h ..read more

   It’s the first of May!  Are you celebrating International Workers’ Day? May Day? getting ready for Cinco de Mayo?   Maybe none of those seem quite right for you. Here is an interesting article on the origins of the holiday. May Day history While I will try not to get on my soapbox or go off on a political rant, I should say I am incredibly grateful for the people who fought (some literally died) to make sure the rest of us had reasonable work hours and weekends. While I didn’t have a weekend off for a large portion of my adult life, I am truly glad some p ..read more

   SNOW!    January 30th. Wow…time sure flies… I meant to write a year-end post. You know, a look back at the year’s accomplishments? But, in some ways the end of the farm as we have known it seemed too depressing. It’s hard enough to watch the landscape slowly close in and erase any signs of productivity now that the animals are gone and the gardens are dormant, I felt no real compunction to document it as well. So, I didn’t. Then I thought maybe I would write a new year’s post. You know, one with hopes and goals for the upcoming year? But, that seemed to tempt ..read more

It took a message from the other side of the world to get my attention. Wow! It really had been “ages” since I posted. More than six months to be exact. So, thanks to Virginia from New Zealand for the wake-up call.  I meant to keep posting, I really did. I made more than a few attempts. But, between some ill-timed internet hiccups (that only occurred just as I was ready to post) and unexpected life events…it got easier and easier to put off posting and wait for something “more interesting” to happen, for things to get “better”.  Spoiler alert—things did not get "better" or "more i ..read more

"social distancing" sparrow It’s been a long week. It has been a week, right? Just a WEEK?  I seem to have lost all track of time. This whole deal is getting to me. That statement alone is something, when you consider that it has just been uttered by an introvert with social anxiety, who has lived the self-sufficient lifestyle beyond the sidewalks for…well…let’s just say…a very long time. Nothing particularly awful happened…but, then, it may just be that NOTHING happened. I just feel blah and meh and even the smallest thing requires far too much effort. I am not alone in thi ..read more

Meteorological Spring…March 1st…a time of transition and renewal… It seems appropriate to post a walkabout today after months and months of silence. Turning the calendar page is always a point of reflection, an opportunity for change. While I would like to say that we’re knee-deep in new projects and I’m making great progress on that oft-mentioned book project, we seem to have been stuck in some weird limbo state where we’re just caught waiting…and waiting…  and, quite honestly, I’m not quite certain WHY we are waiting…or for what. We’re just stuck. first sunrise of 2020 Per ..read more

poison ivy creates a spot of color (just don't touch it!) October is generally the time of brilliant blue skies, gorgeous leaf displays and a frosty nip in the air. But, in a year where generalizations have pretty much been turned on their head, October is no exception. we had weeks of feats of amazing aerial skill as hordes of dragonflies filled the air eating the tiny midge flies the last of the monarchs have flown through a crop-duster plane had the neighbors talking his acrobatics were good, but nothing like the dragonflies fortunately, most of ..read more

  I read an article the other day in which the author claimed that we’d all “hit the wall” of the pandemic. You know, like marathon runners often do, just shy of the finish line. Some of the commentors dragged her for her sloppy use of metaphor and others pointed out some fallacies in her analogy. But, after reading social media posts from friends and family, I’m going to go out on a limb and say I think she was right. Or at the very least, made a credible point. We have hit a wall. No hyperbole. Not even a little bit. even Gus is done with winter The difference being ..read more

August is nearly over! I must say, I’m more than a little happy to note that development. August can be a real challenge. It’s hot, stressful, and in a word, just “August-y” (I know, not really a word, but work with me here). However, for all the heat and pressure, there are good things about August, too. So, read this blast from the past.  Click here. This year, the first of August brought us a hailstorm. I was going to call it “the mother of all hailstorms” until I saw a report about grapefruit-sized hail outside of Denver, CO earlier this month. YIKES That made our quarter-sized ..read more