Mothers day...

First and foremost, I took time to fondly remember my mother today. Dorothy C. Waters was beautiful, kind, generous and often very funny. She loved babies and small children, and is pictured here with her first grandchild, Emily.

For my day, Chris told me we could do anything I wanted. The sun was shining, the birds singing, and I wanted to tackle some yard chores. We had two yards of good mulch loaded into the back of the truck, and while we were out we picked up a new hummingbird feeder, and a an adorable bluebird house, hand made locally by a disabled man. No two of his houses are alike, but they are all whimsically wonderful.We've had a pair of bluebirds hovering about, seemingly unimpressed by the houses we already have up. Within hours of hanging this new one, a handsome male bluebird was scoping it out, clinging to the front and peering inside. I so hope he and his mate will choose to nest there, I'd be delighted to watch them raise a brood.





Chris heroically shoveled a LOT of mulch. There is more to go, but we made a dent and things are looking prettier.

And THEN, he delighted me further by hauling heavy cinder blocks and cutting boards so I now have some benches in my wee little green house!



He grilled up a few steaks while I did evening chores, and the heavens capped off a lovely day with a colorful gift over the back meadow.



I'd say it was a pretty perfect day, all told.

From snow to mow and more...

A month ago much of the ground was still covered with snow.

It was exciting to finally see bare ground, and then the first happy glimpses of grass. Once begun, the grass sprung.

We will need to mow this weekend! We may have to wait an interminable time for spring to arrive here in Maine, but once it is here it comes on in a rush.


The kids are growing at an amazing rate.



And sweet Luna goat is failing nearly as fast.



The veterinarian suspects she has lymphoma. She does not seem to be in pain, grazes and eats hay, soaks up the sun and snuggles her babies. I watch her carefully, as the weight melts off of her, and when I think she is in pain we will send this beloved goat on to where good, good goats go. And I will cry a lot.

When our friend Evan's comes over, Ziva loses her mind with joy. He kindly plays ball with her. Somehow playing with him elevates the game in her mind. She leaps and races with added fervor.




The dog, the grass,the growing goats, the season... they are all racing ahead.

Then and now...

Last year on this very day my grooming studio was a work in progress.
It looked like this:


I was trying to imagine how it would look when it was done, and worrying endlessly how this leap of leaving my good job and starting my own little business in the middle of nowhere would work.

Fast forward to today:



I tried to imagine it. I plotted and planned it. I dreamed about it. But I could not quite imagine this bright,sunny space. The peace and quiet, the orderliness, the colors and the soft music. I wake up every morning excited to work in this lovely, bright, happy place.

It is hard to believe that one year ago I was looking at the studs of the walls, and now I have a small but thriving business here. It was a sweet little dream, and an even sweeter reality.

Loving living locally...

I took most of the day off to write. I completed one article, did planning and research on two more. I had to go to the bank, and my daughter joined me. We also nipped into one of our wonderful local farm stands, Beth's. It just opened for the spring, and since it is so early in the season they didn't have a lot, but they did have fiddle-heads. Fiddle-heads are the new shoots of the Ostrich fern. They grow wild, locally, and are considered a bit of a delicacy here in Maine. We bought some for supper and my daughter cooked them up with a little garlic and some other seasonings. She also grilled some hamburgers. The meat was raised on our friends farm, and was delicious.



We ate at the picnic table for the first time this season. It was a delight. The baby goats entertained us by racing about in the pasture, leaping and hopping about like popcorn kernels on the greening grass.

Earlier today we popped into a different farm stand, Deerfoot Farm. There I bought some of the amazing locally made yogurt they carry. And we found this...



A tall glass jar, filled with delicious, icy cold, lemonade. I tried some. And it tasted like summer. A tart, rare, wonderful treat.

When we moved to this rural place from Memphis, we both expected that we would feel isolated, alone, without a sense of neighborhood. To our delighted surprise we have found great friends, and wonderful local places that make us feel connected and part of a kind and wonderful community. We have also made a habit of eating more food that is locally raised, (and raising some ourselves.) This had been an entirely delicious adventure.

Planting...

It is still chilly in Maine. When I went out to milk the goats this morning the thermometer read 37. But the daffodils are up, waving their bright faces. And I have planted pansies.

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Three buckets full, bright and colorful, bobbing in the spring breezes. They make me smile.

The pasture is beginning to green and grow, but I am still feeding some hay. Chanel eats it, the baby goats make it a warm bed.

Today I finished a long chapter to a book I am co-authoring, and with the able help of my patient husband, cleaned the deep bedding from the duck house. I hauled the old bedding to the vegetable garden and lined the edges of the bed with it to keep the weeds down. Then I cleaned out the chicken coop, and erected a little roost for the diminutive, new, Silky chickens. They took to it immediately, 3 little balls of white fluff in a sweet row. We added a half of bale of straw to the pigs house. I bet they had fun tossing the flakes to make their bed fluffy and soft. Pigs keep their bedding area very clean. All day today we saw them, running like race pigs up and down their paddock, from their house to the little pool at the end of the pasture. They have rooted up every bit of sod in their area with their strong snouts. They are happy pigs.

The days are longer, and warmer and I am so glad.

Herding clinic...

I took Ziva to a herding clinic today. It was a flawless spring day, blue skies, warm temperatures and a light breeze. The air was stitched with tree swallows darting about, a solitary hawk soared past a time or two, and a pair of screaming crows stopped everything when they filled the air with their protests. We've had so little sun that sitting there as the sun shone down, among the people and animals, felt like a rare gift.

There were 10 dog handlers there, and 14 or so dogs. Shetland Sheepdogs, Border Collies, Australian Shepherds,one smiling Rottweiler and a pair of Cardigan Corgi's taking a weekend off from the show ring, dotted the greening grass. The instructor was delightful, peppering her informative chat with good humor. She has Belgian Tervuren's, beautiful and well behaved.


Ziva was a bit of a brat, barking endlessly when left in the shady car, and grumbling rudely at other dogs.
But she liked the sheep.



The instructor said she clearly had the instinct to herd. She began introducing her to commands, and teaching her move the sheep around the ring. I thought she acted pretty badly, but the instructor told me she did fine.



I had to leave early because we were having people over to watch the Kentucky Derby. Chris had been home cooking all day. He had made macaroni and cheese and his famous deviled eggs, as well as smoking a home raised chicken, a pork shoulder and a few slabs of ribs.



We feasted while we watched the race. My choice, American Pharoah, won... too bad we didn't place bets!

My day to day life tends to be pretty much the same from start to finish, and I like that. I enjoy the rhythm and the consistency. But it was fun to depart from the normal and do new things with my dog, and to have a house full of people; talking, laughing and enjoying good food. Tomorrow I will wake to a tidy house and a refrigerator full of delicious leftovers. It will be a good day, too!

Polished..!

When I graduated Masconomet Regional High School in 1978, my mother asked me what I'd like as a gift.
There was a jewelry store in Ipswich, Massachusetts (not far from where we lived) that I loved to haunt. It boasted a lot of native American jewelry.

I remember we went shopping there together, and she shelled out $150. to buy me a stunning, hand made "Squash Blossom" style silver and turquoise necklace. I wore it often, but over the years the silver became quite tarnished. I tried to clean it up, but the silver work was so intricate I never could get it to look right. I had to be careful what I used, because I didn't want to damage the turquoise.

Recently I needed to have a strand of pearls re-strung, and on a whim I took the squash blossom necklace along to the jewelry store to see if they could clean it up for me. They thought they could.

I picked it up today. This may have been the best $10 I've ever spent. 37 years worth of tarnish is gone. I can't wait to wear my beautiful necklace.