May/June 2022
7 July 2022
Bitsy Bat joined our little family in May and the ratio of humans/ cats was restored. I can’t say Little Man is thrilled about the newest arrival- but he’s adjusting just fine. Needless to say, springtime energy abounded as we attempted to pace ourselves and keep up with the rapid greening and growing around the property.
Late April’s bounty filled our cups. Ramps were consumed, pickled, and converted into butter and frozen. Rhubarb as well.
Frequent walks in the ramp patch led to the discovery of a patch of Morels! I went out foraging with my friend Gail and we got completely soaked in the rain, but came back with a small harvest, but one big enough to split. Terrence and I enjoyed the morels simply sautéed in butter. We love the ephemeral nature of it all. One day it’s there, the next - gone. Looking forward to the hunt again next Spring.
Our apple trees blossomed, and then the lilacs put on a stunning show. Floral perfume lingered in the yard for weeks.
We hired a team to help clear out some debris and spread out the driveway gravel. Terrence pulled out the old snowmobile trailer from where it was buried in the meadow with his truck- will need some work but it’s usable. All of the vehicle accessories have been consolidated and parked together.
The gardens are set. Terrence built a raised vegetable bed out of cedar in the front yard. We planted radishes, turnips, cabbages, kale, basil, dill, tomatoes, zucchini, and some snap peas.
I’ve been slowly weeding and restoring the flower beds in the backyard, and planted the flowers I started from seed in early spring: zinnia, dianthus, tansy, bronze fennel, poppies, sweet peas, and cosmos. The peonies have just tapered off- they bloomed in all shades of white-pink-magenta. So fragrant and delicate!
In front of the house we planted row of sunflowers as we did last year. In the front garden beds are more daylilies, sedum, zinnias that I started from seed as well as cosmos, bachelors button and hollyhocks. Mulching & watering as much as possible- but the front of the house faces south and is very dry. We’ll see what takes.
We had a bonfire on the solstice (peak peonies!) with our friend Gill, and welcomed the bounty of the new season, and burned the remnants of last years flowers that Terrence and Gill picked for me and dried.
Terrence has been setting up the media lab (to be housed in the newly cleaned room in the upper barn adjacent to the brick house guest room). We’ve been volunteering with the local historical society, and as part of a website update project, Terrence has converted some content from VHS to Digital. I’ve been researching the painting of our house at the GHS and will be sharing my findings at an open house later this summer.
Currently reading:
Sarah: The Gift and The Disappearance of Ritual
Can't wait to visit. Sounds like a magical and wonderful place. Lots of hard work as well.
Ordered The Gift. Read Margaret Atwood's review of the book in the Paris Review among other reviews. Look's very interesting. Currently reading
Nell Painter's Old in Art School, which rang a few bells on my experience at a much younger..older age than what Painter experienced.