At Home

One weekend in Vermont, exploring the countryside farms with my love, going to a farm auction and spending a night at home with my parents (and totally not taking even one picture). 

The next extended, wonderful weekend in Cape Cod without my love, but with four happy kids, brother, sister and parents.

So here i am, Sunday evening.  Feeling so grateful for my weekend at home.  For my routines to be restored, and my family to eat dinner together.  To work Sunday morning in the garden.

Buying a new-to-us rototiller for the tractor from a Alpaca farm in Canterbury.  The barn was beautiful, actually heavenly.  Hay filled the third loft, alpaca babies cozied up to their mama's on the second floor, while adult goats, turkeys and alpaca's grazed the back pasture and took their rest on the first floor.  The lady of the home spins the wool.  Workshops coming this fall, I'll be there.

To finally finish our dear friend's baby girl's quilt.  Feeling pretty good about it, except the binding, that needs work.

Canning Dill Pickles and Bread & Butter pickles.  Yum!

Baking chocolate chip cookies and Nana's macaroni & Cheese on Sunday afternoon.

Loving my beautiful glads from my husband for my birthday. 

Marveling at the tassel's that suddenly appeared on our corn and the miniature corn cobs growing.  Holy Moly i am going to have a ton of corn to freeze :)

 Picking so, so, so many vegetables every day.  Loving our garden and the plans we are making for next year.

Learning to use my new pressure canner/cooker from hubs.  We cooked up some fresh beans out of the garden in it.  Added a hunk of salt pork and made some Delicious string beans.

Looking at my kitchen and the sink that is full for the billionth time this weekend.  But loving the process that creates this lovely mess.

Thinning out the carrots and bringing all of the small ones in to munch on.

Getting excited for these hot, humid New England summer days to wind down, and the cooler temps to creep in.  Sweaters, flannel, wood heat, cooking on the cook-stove again, apple picking, making homemade apple cider donuts.  Oh how i love Autumn.

Yet also wishing time to stop, to let me catch up, give me time to pick the last of the blueberries and preserve so much more.

 

Enjoying my time at home.

Summer Evenings

Two nights ago, i got home from work and looked around at all of the projects i needed to finish.  I looked at the zucchini relish waiting to be boiled and canned.  I noticed the baby blanket for a dear friend, waiting to have the binding sewn on....

I walked down to the garden to find green beans, zucchini, cucumbers and summer squash ready to be picked. 

I thought about my upcoming weekend away and all the packing and organizing i need to do.  So many tasks that i love, all needing my time & attention. 

I took a deep breath and just went forward.  I drove up the hill to the blueberry patch and picked all the berries i could find.  I came home and cooked a chicken stir fry and canned my zucchini relish, finishing at 9:30 pm. 

In these months, there is so, so much to do.  So much canning i want to get done before the winter ahead.  But i know i need to pace myself.  I need to truly soak up and enjoy my evenings before the work day ahead.  So that night i did.  I picked blueberries, had a lovely dinner with Jason on the front porch at 8pm and happily canned in my kitchen. 

These summer evenings are my time.

Refresh

An afternoon summer storm hit today.  After days on days of nothing but pure sunshine and hot, humid temps, the rain was much needed.  Our gardens and lawn needed the drink.  As i was on my way home from feeding the pigs, trying to beat the storm, it hit.  The wind pushed against the truck, the trees blew around me, the road was there by memory alone.  It sure did get my heart racing.  

It sure did make me feel alive.  

Once home safe and inside the comfort of my home, i laughed!  I laughed at how scared i was of a bit of lighting and wind.  I laughed at how vibrant i felt.  I dropped my things, grabbed some water and dinner and snuggled up with my pup on the couch.  Hubs has been working nights recently, so naturally my guard is up more than usual.  Its funny how one person can help you feel so grounded.   When hubs is here, my worries vanish. 

Yet when the lighting, wind and rain crashed against the windows, i felt a sense of calm embrace me.  I felt so, so safe.  This home we built, its solid and filled with love.  I felt that deep peace within me, reading my book and eating my dinner.

The storm was typical of most summer storms.  It came and went within the hour.  It was so needed and i am grateful indeed.  I had time today to relax completely and our land drank it right up.

There is a beautiful calm after the storm.  A beautiful light.  Warm air that smells so refreshing.  Today is the first day that i have really been so grateful for a storm.  The first day that i saw all of the beauties of these weather patterns.  I thought about our children in the future and how if it was just mama and the kids home, i would put on a full out dance party and let them know that the summer storms are something to live too, not be afraid of.  If daddy is home, they might sit on the front porch and watch the storm coming in with their father's calm and wise words to comfort them.  

Embrace Life & Refresh your Views.

This Summer's Start

Summer has always been my second favorite season (First being autumn, of course).  Summer holds some of my fondest memories of my childhood.  Summer's filled with trips to the lake, camping, hiking and just simply playing outside all day long.  I now long for a summer off, yet that is not in my horizon at this time.  I do have some things brewing that would make this possible in the future.  But for now, for this time and this summer, i will enjoy it in the mornings, evenings and weekends.

This summer started early in New England.  With temp's reaching 100 degrees last weekend, we took it in.  We took the canoe out on Hermit lake.  We began eating every meal outside.

I make homemade buttermilk biscuits with fresh strawberries and whipped cream for the hub's birthday.

Along with homemade french fries & grilled pineapple with a maple glaze.

We have picked the first of the harvest, radishes.

My herb barrels are growing ~ growing ~ growing.  Basil & Cilantro pictured above.

We spend all waking hours watching and hovering over our garden.  Oh how i love watching our garden grow.  While hubs hopes and tries to will the corn to get "knee high by the forth of July."  As my father says.

We beat the heat on the first 97 degree day with a cold veggie salad with our own radishes and basil included, similar to Soule Mama's.   Annie's mac & cheese and turkey dogs topped off the dinner.

Cold Veggie Summer Salad

Corn, fully cooked

Fresh Basil, cut/shred into small pieces

Cucumber

Tomato

Radish

Olive Oil

red wine vinegar

lemon juice

Cooked Orzo

~Mix all together.  Amounts of each ingredient to taste~

This weekend also included my first visit to Surowiec Farm for the season.  What a totally wonderful feeling. I love shopping at the farm for as much as i can.  This weekend i picked up some sugar snap peas, zucchini and fresh delicious strawberries.

We have sold so much maple syrup this week, that we spent Sunday morning bottling more.  I just Love syrup sales.  It feels that we are really making an honest dollar on what we truly love.  This lead to discussions and dreams of a farm stand for all the veggies from the garden that we won't be able to eat or preserve.  It lead to the hope of the day we can really live completely off our land.  

Dreams are a wonderful thing.  

Especially when you have the same ones as your partner.  It just makes you feel whole and happy.  

It makes me feel that our life is going in the direction we desire.

We puttered around, and it was wonderful.  Nothing on the schedule, just doing what we felt was right.

We had friends over for a Mexican dinner, then went out for ice cream, followed by fireworks in town.  Our first use of our beach blanket of the year, taking in the summer night, full of bright skies.

I have spent evenings on the front porch, on clear, warm nights.  Jason woke me up, just to show me the fireflies across the way.  Wow, they are marvelous and so, so alive.  There are thousands just lighting up my view.

I made fresh blueberry lemonade from Ashley English in my latest edition of Taproot!. (Simply amazing!)  That magazine totally rocks.  Anyone that doesn't have the subscription, is missing out.  I can't wait for the next edition already.

Refreshing 

I spent last Sunday afternoon, with my feet in the brook, reading Animal-Vegetable-Miracle. Then i ventured to the blanket on the lawn that was calling my name.  I napped there with my pup.  A wonderful way to put a close to the weekend.

Hubs helped his grandfather out, mowing the fields.  He didn't mind, he didn't mind one bit.  My man loves tractors.  Especially this Farmall.  This Farmall that is started with a crank in the front.  Its a total classic and so beautiful.

Summer has begun.

And we are taking it all in.

Every morning garden walk and every evening firefly show.

Around Earth Day

Breathe in all that is spring

Around Earth day : :

we planted Christmas trees & re-located a few saplings
i found many, many Trillium's around our brook.
Along with fiddle-heads

Such beauty comes when the earth warms and rain falls.