Wow. the blogs. It's been so long since I've read these posts and from my previous blog, pottyparty.blogspot, that it was almost like reading about someone else's life! Major head trip.
If you know us, and you are reading this, then you probably know we are still on the Ridge. It's been 3 years, we're going into our 4th summer here and getting ready to pull the roof off our house and do some major renovation. For 3 years, we've been hemming and hawing about how to live here, get the space we need (3 bedrooms for 4 people instead of 1 bedroom for 4 people), achieve energy efficiency and continue to bring this place to it's potential. I've wanted to walk a few times. Too much money. Too much time. Too much work.
But out here, along with the 'too much' of work, money and time, you also get much green, much silence, many frogs and perhaps a few too many (hungry foxes); many birds and much wind, endless stars and many hills, many wonderful neighbors and much, much, much peace. I know that there are many places where I could live with the too much work/time/money and fewer and fewer that include the green/silence/frogs/birds/wind/stars/hills/and peace. So here we stay.
I hope to write more, again. I hope you'll visit.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Friday, October 3, 2008
My God We Suck
OK, this blog is more or less pooched...its authors are wasting lots of time on Facebook where there's photos and easy updates and shit. So if you're not on facebook, git on it. If you are, ask to be our friends; you know who we are ;)
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Monday, September 1, 2008
Just Another Day in the Life
OK, so it was a fun one. While I was sleeping in (since today was my every-other-day-turn ;) and Kelly was outside enjoying her coffee, one of the hens decided to enter the verboten human domain and come inside the house. Luckily for us, our trusty attack cat Reggie was guarding the door. Kelly's report was being shaken out of a rare moment of morning relaxation by the Reggie hissing and spitting and Gloria (the hen) clucking loudly...from inside the house. By the time she responded Gloria was running out of the house and Reggie was needing to be picked up by the scruff of his neck. Not the first time, though the typical victims are friends' (and very occasionally neighbors') dogs that come over...at our old house the local police even showed up to talk to be about our cat's behavior, though the officer barely kept a straight face through the whole thing and ended it with "well I'm not sure what I'm supposed to tell you to do, though just thought you should know..."
Fast forward to a while later after I had gotten up, gotten coffee, and was off to the barn to get something or other. As I walked by the corner of the house there was a 12" or so garter snake sliding along the sun-warmed foundation, so I picked it up and gave a holler and everyone came out to see the little guy as it crapped all over my hands. Nothing like snake shit to stick up the mitts.
Then down into the gardens for the first big push in getting things ready for the coming fall: pulling all the cucumbers and beans. And of course, as part of pulling is the final harvest. No shit I think there's about 150 pounds of cukes out in our front yard...that's 2 full wheel barrow loads. Then there's a bags of beans, buckets of tomatoes, some peppers, the zucchini and pattapan squashes. Turnips and Kohlrabi have already all been pulled and either eaten or prepped for storage. And there's the bags of blackberries picked from the woods, and the batch of jam I made last night from the latest round Raelin and I picked. Melons are still ripening; popped a watermelon open this evening to see how it looked...not nearly there though the ripe bit was soooo good ;) Also lifted some small potatoes and had some early brussels sprouts. Oh man it was good.
Anyhow, mid-day we all took a break to drive to China (Maine, that is ;) to pick up a free picnic table and get some ice cream at John's Ice Cream in Liberty, which is reputed to be the best in the state. It was pretty tasty. On the way there we spotted a large turtle crossing the road. So being a nature lover and all that I stopped the truck to give the little guy a hand. This turned out to be not such a good idea; as soon as I tried to pick the thing up it did its best to whip around and bite me. Snapping turtles, even small ones, are very strong, very fast, and get very pissed off. I was more than happy to leave it out in the road and honestly, wouldn't have been that bummed if the thing got run over. I had half a mind to bring it home and eat it since I've heard turtle is actually quite good, though we were going the other way, I had no way to quickly dispatch it, etc, etc. Will have to look up what kind it is, though I must say that I'm not super excited about the prospect of my bare feet having a run in with one of those in one of our local ponds...last summer a fisherman hooked one at one of the most popular swimming spots at the big pond just up the road...willies!!!
Anyhow, so we got our free table, which needs a bit of work, got our ice cream, then came home and whupped the smaller garden into shape. This included pulling the volunteer squash vines that had emerged from the old compost pile and taken over a good part of the garden. Ended up picking over 30 pumpkins ranging from a few inches to over a foot across and a couple immature butternut squash. All will be used for fall decorations since we have more reliable food selections growing in the big garden. Photos of much of this are on my facebook page...ask to friend me if you're not already if you're interested in some photos!!!
Fast forward to a while later after I had gotten up, gotten coffee, and was off to the barn to get something or other. As I walked by the corner of the house there was a 12" or so garter snake sliding along the sun-warmed foundation, so I picked it up and gave a holler and everyone came out to see the little guy as it crapped all over my hands. Nothing like snake shit to stick up the mitts.
Then down into the gardens for the first big push in getting things ready for the coming fall: pulling all the cucumbers and beans. And of course, as part of pulling is the final harvest. No shit I think there's about 150 pounds of cukes out in our front yard...that's 2 full wheel barrow loads. Then there's a bags of beans, buckets of tomatoes, some peppers, the zucchini and pattapan squashes. Turnips and Kohlrabi have already all been pulled and either eaten or prepped for storage. And there's the bags of blackberries picked from the woods, and the batch of jam I made last night from the latest round Raelin and I picked. Melons are still ripening; popped a watermelon open this evening to see how it looked...not nearly there though the ripe bit was soooo good ;) Also lifted some small potatoes and had some early brussels sprouts. Oh man it was good.
Anyhow, mid-day we all took a break to drive to China (Maine, that is ;) to pick up a free picnic table and get some ice cream at John's Ice Cream in Liberty, which is reputed to be the best in the state. It was pretty tasty. On the way there we spotted a large turtle crossing the road. So being a nature lover and all that I stopped the truck to give the little guy a hand. This turned out to be not such a good idea; as soon as I tried to pick the thing up it did its best to whip around and bite me. Snapping turtles, even small ones, are very strong, very fast, and get very pissed off. I was more than happy to leave it out in the road and honestly, wouldn't have been that bummed if the thing got run over. I had half a mind to bring it home and eat it since I've heard turtle is actually quite good, though we were going the other way, I had no way to quickly dispatch it, etc, etc. Will have to look up what kind it is, though I must say that I'm not super excited about the prospect of my bare feet having a run in with one of those in one of our local ponds...last summer a fisherman hooked one at one of the most popular swimming spots at the big pond just up the road...willies!!!
Anyhow, so we got our free table, which needs a bit of work, got our ice cream, then came home and whupped the smaller garden into shape. This included pulling the volunteer squash vines that had emerged from the old compost pile and taken over a good part of the garden. Ended up picking over 30 pumpkins ranging from a few inches to over a foot across and a couple immature butternut squash. All will be used for fall decorations since we have more reliable food selections growing in the big garden. Photos of much of this are on my facebook page...ask to friend me if you're not already if you're interested in some photos!!!
Monday, August 4, 2008
Early August Update
First, some Liam-isms from the last couple days:
While the kids are coming into the bedroom in the morning to get clothes: "I can't put on any underwear, I'm wearing a diaper, dammit"
To Raelin and me: "you're not little enough to pee in your pants, but I is"
Anyhow, Kelly returned today from a 5 day trip out west to see some pals. Gotta love those jetBlue free flights ;) It's the longest she's been away from the kiddos, so a big jump for all of us, especially little Liam. I took vacation time from work and we had a blast. Hit the free day at the Lobstah festival, got rained out of getting a hot dog from any of the stands, finished out R's swimming lessons, helped a buddy install a set of French doors in our dining room, spent a bunch of time in the garden, and got a good start on the year's blueberries ;)
From the garden specifically I picked a wheelbarrow load (literally!!!) of cukes, and that wasn't even all of them from the first of 3 rows. Also picked about 3 gallons of string beans and a generous bag of chard. Lots of all of it still out there. The tomato jungle is starting to get ripe as well, the late strawberries are set, and the squashes and melons are all on the vines or heavy with blossoms. Potatoes are all strong though one row is battling (and thus we're in there, too) potato bugs. Gross little things, especially the bigger ones that you can really feel pop between your fingers.
Lots of toads have been spotted out in the garden, as well as predatory insects. Hopefully they're all out there eating their fill.
On the berry front, my goal for this year is to have 12 gallons in the freezer and then dole out a gallon for each month. A gallon of berries is roughly 5 pounds worth. The only drag is that this year all the berries we have access to were sprayed, so I have to wait until I get back to the house and wash them to eat more than one or two. Also means the kids have to stay home, though that's not so bad as it's a longish walk to the fields and picking with them is less about actually picking and more about doing something together. No, when I pick berries, I pick berries. Barefoot and silent. The fields are far from the roads and in the middle of dense woods so there's no road noise and lots of birds calling. Even heard a grouse drumming the other day, which took me a bit by surprise.
So the garden's humming along, the house is slowly getting things done to it, the shed->office is still utterly stalled out (though not for long), and summer here continues to be a dreamy time...
Anyhoo, signing off for now, don't pee in your pants.
While the kids are coming into the bedroom in the morning to get clothes: "I can't put on any underwear, I'm wearing a diaper, dammit"
To Raelin and me: "you're not little enough to pee in your pants, but I is"
Anyhow, Kelly returned today from a 5 day trip out west to see some pals. Gotta love those jetBlue free flights ;) It's the longest she's been away from the kiddos, so a big jump for all of us, especially little Liam. I took vacation time from work and we had a blast. Hit the free day at the Lobstah festival, got rained out of getting a hot dog from any of the stands, finished out R's swimming lessons, helped a buddy install a set of French doors in our dining room, spent a bunch of time in the garden, and got a good start on the year's blueberries ;)
From the garden specifically I picked a wheelbarrow load (literally!!!) of cukes, and that wasn't even all of them from the first of 3 rows. Also picked about 3 gallons of string beans and a generous bag of chard. Lots of all of it still out there. The tomato jungle is starting to get ripe as well, the late strawberries are set, and the squashes and melons are all on the vines or heavy with blossoms. Potatoes are all strong though one row is battling (and thus we're in there, too) potato bugs. Gross little things, especially the bigger ones that you can really feel pop between your fingers.
Lots of toads have been spotted out in the garden, as well as predatory insects. Hopefully they're all out there eating their fill.
On the berry front, my goal for this year is to have 12 gallons in the freezer and then dole out a gallon for each month. A gallon of berries is roughly 5 pounds worth. The only drag is that this year all the berries we have access to were sprayed, so I have to wait until I get back to the house and wash them to eat more than one or two. Also means the kids have to stay home, though that's not so bad as it's a longish walk to the fields and picking with them is less about actually picking and more about doing something together. No, when I pick berries, I pick berries. Barefoot and silent. The fields are far from the roads and in the middle of dense woods so there's no road noise and lots of birds calling. Even heard a grouse drumming the other day, which took me a bit by surprise.
So the garden's humming along, the house is slowly getting things done to it, the shed->office is still utterly stalled out (though not for long), and summer here continues to be a dreamy time...
Anyhoo, signing off for now, don't pee in your pants.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Quick post...
Just some Liam-isms...
garong: sarong
gatoto: pototo
gomato: totmato
wunderstorm: thunderstorm
apple spider: apple cider
garong: sarong
gatoto: pototo
gomato: totmato
wunderstorm: thunderstorm
apple spider: apple cider
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Hawk Migration
Well there's lots and lots of birds showing up and making all kinds of good ruckus these days. Finally figured out that what I thought was an old tractor trying to start up down in the valley is actually a grouse call. Also seen and heard tons of woodcocks, woodpeckers, and woodjohnsons (just kidding about that last one...formal apology for junior high humor, I thought it was funny...still laughing).
Aaaaannnyyway, yeah, lots and lots of songbirds flitting about. Raelin calls them all titmouses (or is it titmice?). Also seen a lot of raptors about, which are my favorites. To date this spring: several bald eagles, sharp-shinned hawk, coopers hawk, northern goshawk (finally!!!! and what a sighting as it dove into the chicken flock ;), merlin, kestrel (I think), and today a small kettle of 3 broad winged hawks riding thermals north.
On another note, the cat seems to have caught all the slow unaware rodents around. For awhile there he was coming home with 2 or 3 a day, and I saw him more than once eating them away from the house as well, so who knows how many mice, rats, and squirrels he was nailing. He does seem to have given up on ever catching one particular gopher that he wore a spot into the grass waiting for. Hunted that thing every day for over 2 weeks, just sitting under a maple waiting. Cat 0, gopher 1.
Also found some sort of burrow out in the orchard. Looks a bit abandoned, though work keeping an eye on just in case.
Project update: gardens are going, going, going. Kelly's got around 200 strawberrys planted, and many of the starts are getting ready to be transplanted. She also got a bunch of seeds planted for beans, peas, and greens. Sprouts are coming up. And we still have a massive box of seeds to go.
The chicken coop got an expansion last weekend since with all the planting the girls are no longer allowed to range (and poop) all over the place. Should be a lot less chicken shit on shoes and clothes this summer, plus the birds get a nice big pen to roam in. They seem pretty happy about it.
While I was building said coop I realized that the seepy, mushy area down in the pines is a vernal spring. So I started digging and found 5 outlets, though at this point with all the dry weather 3 of them have stopped flowing. The other 2 are still going though so we've now got a nice little creek down there. Hoping that as I put in more drainage like that there will be less habitat for mosquitoes near the house. It's worth a shot.
Kelly also found a couple local sources of free composted horse manure. That's like finding gold! So the truck's loaded up from her first run last night to pick some up.
Oh yes, I have some Raelin quotes to share:
One morning she was sitting on the floor in the living room wistfully digging into her nostril with an index finger. She stopped and looked at me and simply said "I spend a lot of time picking my nose."
One early sign of spring is that all the ladybugs that congregate inside for the winter wake up and start making their way outside. Out of the blue one day Raelin told me "did you know that ladybugs have little feathers that come out of the bums when they fly?" I did, in fact, not know that's how beetles fly ;)
She likes to make up songs, at one point I heard the following lyric drifting out of the living room "...it's so funny when you go poo..."
We both, though Kelly especially, uses "Jesus" as an expression of exhasperation and disbelief. Not toward the kids, though they've heard it plenty. So it was with great amusement that as I was walking in front of Raelin to show her something in the shed-to-office project she flatly stated "well Jesus! Why'd you do it *that* way?!"
I like maraschino cherries. I like them in cocktails, I like them in coke. Kelly abhors them and think they are one of the most foul things around. It's a perfect little parental battleground. So anyway, Raelin's always trying to get a handle on why Kelly doesn't like them, so Kelly ticks off the list: too much sugar, food coloring, corn syrup, food coloring, and food coloring. Raelin now calls them "food coloring cherries" and likes them as much as I. Liam on the other hand, acted like I was trying to slip him something. Raelin was clamoring for a food coloring cherry, so Liam started clamoring for one, too. Raelin happily popped hers in her mouth and ate it. Liam more hesitantly put his in, though it wasn't long before it landed on the floor with a splat and his general mark of disapproval "don't like it".
Of course, the meal we all eat in the morning is still "brefkast", and the car we drive is a "Subaru Backout" after the enzyme-based stain remover.
Anyhow, that's about it for now, it's a stunning day out and I need to get back to work so I can cut out a bit early and enjoy it!
Aaaaannnyyway, yeah, lots and lots of songbirds flitting about. Raelin calls them all titmouses (or is it titmice?). Also seen a lot of raptors about, which are my favorites. To date this spring: several bald eagles, sharp-shinned hawk, coopers hawk, northern goshawk (finally!!!! and what a sighting as it dove into the chicken flock ;), merlin, kestrel (I think), and today a small kettle of 3 broad winged hawks riding thermals north.
On another note, the cat seems to have caught all the slow unaware rodents around. For awhile there he was coming home with 2 or 3 a day, and I saw him more than once eating them away from the house as well, so who knows how many mice, rats, and squirrels he was nailing. He does seem to have given up on ever catching one particular gopher that he wore a spot into the grass waiting for. Hunted that thing every day for over 2 weeks, just sitting under a maple waiting. Cat 0, gopher 1.
Also found some sort of burrow out in the orchard. Looks a bit abandoned, though work keeping an eye on just in case.
Project update: gardens are going, going, going. Kelly's got around 200 strawberrys planted, and many of the starts are getting ready to be transplanted. She also got a bunch of seeds planted for beans, peas, and greens. Sprouts are coming up. And we still have a massive box of seeds to go.
The chicken coop got an expansion last weekend since with all the planting the girls are no longer allowed to range (and poop) all over the place. Should be a lot less chicken shit on shoes and clothes this summer, plus the birds get a nice big pen to roam in. They seem pretty happy about it.
While I was building said coop I realized that the seepy, mushy area down in the pines is a vernal spring. So I started digging and found 5 outlets, though at this point with all the dry weather 3 of them have stopped flowing. The other 2 are still going though so we've now got a nice little creek down there. Hoping that as I put in more drainage like that there will be less habitat for mosquitoes near the house. It's worth a shot.
Kelly also found a couple local sources of free composted horse manure. That's like finding gold! So the truck's loaded up from her first run last night to pick some up.
Oh yes, I have some Raelin quotes to share:
One morning she was sitting on the floor in the living room wistfully digging into her nostril with an index finger. She stopped and looked at me and simply said "I spend a lot of time picking my nose."
One early sign of spring is that all the ladybugs that congregate inside for the winter wake up and start making their way outside. Out of the blue one day Raelin told me "did you know that ladybugs have little feathers that come out of the bums when they fly?" I did, in fact, not know that's how beetles fly ;)
She likes to make up songs, at one point I heard the following lyric drifting out of the living room "...it's so funny when you go poo..."
We both, though Kelly especially, uses "Jesus" as an expression of exhasperation and disbelief. Not toward the kids, though they've heard it plenty. So it was with great amusement that as I was walking in front of Raelin to show her something in the shed-to-office project she flatly stated "well Jesus! Why'd you do it *that* way?!"
I like maraschino cherries. I like them in cocktails, I like them in coke. Kelly abhors them and think they are one of the most foul things around. It's a perfect little parental battleground. So anyway, Raelin's always trying to get a handle on why Kelly doesn't like them, so Kelly ticks off the list: too much sugar, food coloring, corn syrup, food coloring, and food coloring. Raelin now calls them "food coloring cherries" and likes them as much as I. Liam on the other hand, acted like I was trying to slip him something. Raelin was clamoring for a food coloring cherry, so Liam started clamoring for one, too. Raelin happily popped hers in her mouth and ate it. Liam more hesitantly put his in, though it wasn't long before it landed on the floor with a splat and his general mark of disapproval "don't like it".
Of course, the meal we all eat in the morning is still "brefkast", and the car we drive is a "Subaru Backout" after the enzyme-based stain remover.
Anyhow, that's about it for now, it's a stunning day out and I need to get back to work so I can cut out a bit early and enjoy it!
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