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
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First Day Jitters
Yesterday dawned clear and sunny and very cold in central Vermont, my last time to wake up in the loft, HCB at my side. We had the big work of packing and moving ahead of us, still time for a final cup of coffee before we pushed up our sleeves. The winter storm that is … Continue reading First Day Jitters
Resolve
I’ve worn out this plucky little word as both noun and verb for about a week. The nor’easter that moved into New England on Tuesday stalled out right over my neighborhood, evidently right on top of my house. The snow came stealthily at times and brazenly at others, mostly in silence. It was wet and … Continue reading Resolve
Mise En Place
Today I had a huge, long list of stuff I planned to do. Some was work related, some was house related (actually most was house related), and there was the usual catching up on correspondence. Handsome Chef Boyfriend's mandate to me as he was leaving this morning: go out and pick up sticks. (Manly Vermonter … Continue reading Mise En Place
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
Finding Family
This has been a Handsome Chef Boyfriend weekend through and through. I am writing from his place this weekend, hanging around an extra day on the chance I can meet a deadline in a foreign and yet ever familiar environment. It is messy and inconvenient for everybody concerned; tomorrow morning will come early, and I … Continue reading Finding Family
Living Small, Living Well: (Almost) Two Years of Handsome Chef Boyfriend
When Handsome Chef Boyfriend and I had our first delicate conversations in September of 2012, I told him that chefs are artists of the highest order of magnitude, to my way of thinking. I meant that. The two of us have so much fun with food--talking about it, finding, creating and playing with it, and … Continue reading Living Small, Living Well: (Almost) Two Years of Handsome Chef Boyfriend
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
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
Quiet November Saturday: A Photo Essay
Finding peace is work. It takes effort--every single day--to keep pushing back the fear and worry that refuse to loose their grip on me since my solo mid-century reboot last August. And then there are beautiful moments of amnesty. Vermont has been good to me mainly; for the time being I come home to 180 … Continue reading Quiet November Saturday: A Photo Essay
Sycamore Stories 