Whenever somebody up this way likes to claim we’re lucky to have four seasons, usually as a snappy retort to somebody else complaining about how truly miserable Vermont winters can be, my knee-jerk reaction goes, four seasons compared to what? What we more accurately have in these parts is five seasons, like so: Summer (it … Continue reading Journal Entry: Tender Green Shoots
Gardening
Journal Entry: The Earth Grows Restless and Begins to Shift
And the days grow notably shorter. It had to happen eventually, I suppose. But the poison parsnip is dead, and good riddance to it. “I don’t suppose your leaves have started turning yet,” mused my dad at the other end of a cell phone connection about a week ago. “No,” I said, “but just last … Continue reading Journal Entry: The Earth Grows Restless and Begins to Shift
Family Story: When Doing Nothing Really Is Something
Yesterday afternoon I video chatted with my twentysomething for a bit as we routinely do, if not every day, at least several days every week. Thank the universe (and the engineers) for the technology that allows us to do this. He was sitting at his desk at home in his bedroom, with a soft blanket … Continue reading Family Story: When Doing Nothing Really Is Something
Gardening Story: True Confessions of a Mulching Enthusiast
Mulch, gentle reader, covers a multitude of sins. I know how to spread mulch: I am good at spreading mulch. David-the-Chef wants to know why on earth we should have a load of mulch delivered. I ask you, Does this question even merit an answer? Isn't it OBVIOUS? Mulch gussies up everything it touches: it is … Continue reading Gardening Story: True Confessions of a Mulching Enthusiast
Balance: Sunday Journal
Spring has never felt more welcome. And as sure as it has felt like spring for the past week we are evidently in for 50s, clouds and rain for the next. It's okay by me: there is no snow in the forecast, and I have noted very definite signs of thickening in the tips of … Continue reading Balance: Sunday Journal
Grey Day
Today I decided I would document my walk backwards from my mailbox. The air smells every bit of fall but still felt summery to me. This dairy barn across from the property where I am a squatter is long out of service, but its owner recently gave it a new roof to slow its demise. … Continue reading Grey Day
Bleeding Hearts and Good Intentions
Dang, that sounds like a country song. It is time to fess up and explain what happened in the Secret Garden. The ugly truth is that I tried to have my first-ever vegetable garden and the stupid groundhog emerged victorious. The wind is officially knocked out of my sails. Groundhog 1, Deb zip. No beans, no … Continue reading Bleeding Hearts and Good Intentions
Houston, we have a problem.
Last weekend Handsome Chef Boyfriend and I had our first springtime work session in the "secret" terraced gardens on the property I call home at the moment. During a cool, misty afternoon we raked and shoveled and pulled weeds and prepared a bed in anticipation of putting my started-from-seed-inside veggies in the ground. I don't … Continue reading Houston, we have a problem.
Secret Garden Part I
Handsome Chef Boyfriend and I squeezed much into our Saturday as we are wont to do; it is really our only day together every week, so to quote Eloise, You can imagine.... In the late afternoon we pushed up our sleeves and got to work clearing and preparing beds in the terraced gardens on the beautiful … Continue reading Secret Garden Part I
Gracie’s Tomatoes
My great-grandmother lived 'til I was into my thirties; notably, for all but the last couple of months of her life, she was pretty dang lucid, too. Had she survived another year she'd have met her great-great-grandson. But, to quote a friend, she still won. Gracie. She lived in a tiny, vernacular cottage perched at … Continue reading Gracie’s Tomatoes
Sycamore Stories 